Médanos de Guayamas

Médanos de Guayamas
Panicum urvilleanum y huellas de Tenebriónidos sobre la arena. ©E. Pucheta

domingo, 7 de julio de 2013

Pulsos de lluvia, pulsos de CO2 microbiano

Microbial Awakening

Successive awakening of soil microbes drives a huge pulse of CO2 following the first rain after a dry summer.
By  | November 1, 2012

The paper
S.A. Placella et al., “Rainfall-induced carbon dioxide pulses result from sequential resuscitation of phylogenetically clustered microbial groups,” PNAS, 109:10931-36, 2012.

The finding
When it rains after a dry, hot summer in Mediterranean climates, huge pulses of CO2 are released into the atmosphere. By monitoring the activity of soil microbes after soil re-wetting, Sarah Placella at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues have determined that the pulse is the result of successive resuscitation of specific phylogenetic groups of microorganisms, each re-activating at a different time following the initial onset of rain.

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