A study focused on response of soil trace gas oxidisers to long-term and short-term warming.
Much of the soil microbiome are aerobic bacteria that use ubiquitous atmospheric gases carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2), and methane (CH4). Activities of trace gas oxidizers constitute the largest biological sink of these climate-active gases, critically regulating global climate and atmospheric chemistry. However, a key unaddressed question is if future warming promotes or hampers these climate-relevant microbial processes. Here we studied the responses of soil trace gas oxidizers exposed to warming through profiling natural geothermal gradients in a sub-Arctic grassland (>60 years of field warming at + 6°C).