Climate warming and summer droughts alter soil microbial activity, affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Arctic and alpine regions. However, the long-term effects of warming, and implications for future microbial resilience, are poorly understood. Using one alpine and three Arctic soils subjected to in situ long-term experimental warming, we simulated drought in laboratory incubations to test how microbial functional-gene abundance affects fluxes in three GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. We found that responses of functional gene abundances to drought and warming are strongly associated with vegetation type and soil carbon. Our sites ranged from a wet, forb dominated, soil carbon-rich systems to a drier, soil carbon-poor alpine site. Resilience of functional gene abundances, and in turn methane and carbon dioxide fluxes, was lower in the wetter, carbon-rich systems. However, we did not detect an effect of drought or warming on nitrous oxide fluxes. All gene\uffe2\uff80\uff93GHG relationships were modified by vegetation type, with stronger effects being observed in wetter, forb-rich soils. These results suggest that impacts of warming and drought on GHG emissions are linked to a complex set of microbial gene abundances and may be habitat-specific.-2), as a proxy of light harvesting regulation and plant acclimation. * Violaxanthin cycle pigment pool (VAZ, violaxanthin + zeaxanthin + antheraxanthin, mmol mol Chl-1), as proxy photoprotective compounds through thermal dissipation. * Total tocopherols (mmol mol Chl-1), as a proxy of antioxidant compounds. * Defoliation (%), as a proxy of crown transparency. * Crown health. Is the linear combination of the variables mentioned above. **Belowground root parameters:** * Fine root branching. * Fine root leghth (cm). Mean length of the fine roots. * Fine root diameter (cm). Mean diameter of the fine roots. **Soil chemical analyses** * Total organic carbon content (org. C), total organic nitrogen content (org. N) and total organic phosphorus content (org. P). These analyses were expressed as mg of organic C, N or P per 100 mg of soil (%). * Mineral N (ammonium+nitrate+nitrite) was expresed as ppm, \u03bcg per g. * Phosphate was expresed as ppm, \u03bcg per g. * Potassium was expresed as ppm, \u03bcg per g. * pH **Soil microbial functional genes** * Carbon hydrolysis genes (i.e., genes involved in starch, hemicellulose, cellulose, chitin, pectin and lignin degradation). abfA, manB, Xyl, cex, pgu, glx, lig, mnp, apu, iso-plu, ammiA, sga, chiA * Carbon fixation genes. aclB,accA, mcrA, pccA, korA, smtA, frdA, rbcL, acsB, acsA, acsE. * Methane oxidation. pmoA, mmoX, mxaF, pqq-mdh * Nitrogen cycling (i.e., genes involved in N fixation, nitrification, denitrification, ammonification, anaerobic ammonium oxidation, assimilatory and dissimilatory N reduction and organic N mineralization. nifH, amoA1, amoA2, amoB, ureC, gdhA, hao, nxrA, nirS, nirK, nosZ, hzsB. * Phosphorus cycling genes (i.e., mineralization, solubilization, biosynthesis and hydrolysis of phosphorus). gcd, pqqC, phoD, phoX, phnK, ppx, ppk. * Sulfur cycling genes. soxY, yedZ, dsrA, dsrB, apsA. These genes were expresed as the abundance, gene copy number relative to 16S. The primer pairs and the encoded enzymes of the analyzed soil microbial functional genes may be found in the electronic supplementary material published in Table S2 of the manuscript.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Quercus ilex", "defoliation", "13. Climate action", "Dehesa", "FOS: Agricultural sciences", "soil microbial communities", "14. Life underwater", "biogeochemical cycles", "15. Life on land", "soil functional genes"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Encinas-Valero, Manuel, Esteban, Raquel, Here\u015f, Ana-Mar\u00eda, Vivas, Mar\u00eda, Solla, Alejandro, Moreno, Gerardo, Corcobado, Tamara, Odriozolacrobiology, I\u00f1aki, Garbisu, Carlos, Epelde, Lur, Curiel Yuste, Jorge,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwws"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwws", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwws", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.gb5mkkwws"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-11-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1959.7/uws:78444", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-31T07:05:49Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2023-11-09", "title": "Vegetation type, not the legacy of warming, modifies the response of microbial functional genes and greenhouse gas fluxes to drought in Oro-Arctic and alpine regions", "description": "Abstract
Climate warming and summer droughts alter soil microbial activity, affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Arctic and alpine regions. However, the long-term effects of warming, and implications for future microbial resilience, are poorly understood. Using one alpine and three Arctic soils subjected to in situ long-term experimental warming, we simulated drought in laboratory incubations to test how microbial functional-gene abundance affects fluxes in three GHGs: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. We found that responses of functional gene abundances to drought and warming are strongly associated with vegetation type and soil carbon. Our sites ranged from a wet, forb dominated, soil carbon-rich systems to a drier, soil carbon-poor alpine site. Resilience of functional gene abundances, and in turn methane and carbon dioxide fluxes, was lower in the wetter, carbon-rich systems. However, we did not detect an effect of drought or warming on nitrous oxide fluxes. All gene\uffe2\uff80\uff93GHG relationships were modified by vegetation type, with stronger effects being observed in wetter, forb-rich soils. These results suggest that impacts of warming and drought on GHG emissions are linked to a complex set of microbial gene abundances and may be habitat-specific.