EESS PhD Student talk on "Investigation of microbial community dynamics in soil during variable hydrological forcing "
Event details
| Date | 22.10.2024 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 12:45 |
| Speaker | PhD Student Simiao Wang, EPFL EML Lab |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
Abstract:
Climate change is expected to alter the temporal distribution of precipitation events, leading to prolonged drought periods and an increased frequency of extreme precipitation events. Here, we experimentally investigate the impact of changing the temporal distribution of precipitation, i.e., mild and frequent versus sparse and intense, on the soil microbiome. Triplicate homogenized soil columns (50 cm tall) were subjected to two artificial precipitation patterns (3-day and 14-day inter-arrival time) for 3 months each. Hydrological and geochemical parameters (such as redox potential, volumetric water content, matric potential, pH and dissolved oxygen) were measured as a function of depth and time. Greenhouse gas fluxes were also measured. Finally, the soil microbiome was characterized at three time point. The results revealed that sparse and intense precipitation significantly increases leaf-litter decomposition in a forest soil when compared to mild and frequent precipitation. As a result, more organic carbon is released to both near-surface and subsurface soil, leading to a shift of microbiome composition and higher microbial diversity. Moreover, the effects of enhanced leaf-litter decomposition also extended to greenhouse gas emissions from soil surface, resulting in distinct emission patterns for the two precipitation patterns. This work underscores the importance of the temporal distribution of precipitation on the soil microbiome compositional trajectory and the associated biogeochemical processes and raises the possibility of extreme precipitation events resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions.
Biography:
Dr. Simiao Wang is an environmental microbiologist and biogeochemist. He obtained BSc degree in environmental and sustainable development from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in China and MSc degree in environmental engineering from Cornell University in US. Recently, he completed his PhD in environmental engineering in Environmental Microbiology Laboratory at EPFL, supervised by Prof. Rizlan Bernier-Latmani. Now, he works as a postdoc researcher in NCCR Microbiome on the effects of precipitation regime on soil microbiome composition.
Climate change is expected to alter the temporal distribution of precipitation events, leading to prolonged drought periods and an increased frequency of extreme precipitation events. Here, we experimentally investigate the impact of changing the temporal distribution of precipitation, i.e., mild and frequent versus sparse and intense, on the soil microbiome. Triplicate homogenized soil columns (50 cm tall) were subjected to two artificial precipitation patterns (3-day and 14-day inter-arrival time) for 3 months each. Hydrological and geochemical parameters (such as redox potential, volumetric water content, matric potential, pH and dissolved oxygen) were measured as a function of depth and time. Greenhouse gas fluxes were also measured. Finally, the soil microbiome was characterized at three time point. The results revealed that sparse and intense precipitation significantly increases leaf-litter decomposition in a forest soil when compared to mild and frequent precipitation. As a result, more organic carbon is released to both near-surface and subsurface soil, leading to a shift of microbiome composition and higher microbial diversity. Moreover, the effects of enhanced leaf-litter decomposition also extended to greenhouse gas emissions from soil surface, resulting in distinct emission patterns for the two precipitation patterns. This work underscores the importance of the temporal distribution of precipitation on the soil microbiome compositional trajectory and the associated biogeochemical processes and raises the possibility of extreme precipitation events resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions.
Biography:
Dr. Simiao Wang is an environmental microbiologist and biogeochemist. He obtained BSc degree in environmental and sustainable development from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in China and MSc degree in environmental engineering from Cornell University in US. Recently, he completed his PhD in environmental engineering in Environmental Microbiology Laboratory at EPFL, supervised by Prof. Rizlan Bernier-Latmani. Now, he works as a postdoc researcher in NCCR Microbiome on the effects of precipitation regime on soil microbiome composition.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- EESS - IIE
Contact
- Prof.Rizlam Bernier-Latmani, Laboratory EML