Temperature adaptation of soil bacterial communities along an Antarctic climate gradient: predicting responses to climate warming.

Soil microorganisms, the central drivers of terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems, are being confronted with increasing temperatures as parts of the continent experience considerable warming. Here we determined short-term temperature dependencies of Antarctic soil bacterial community growth rates, using the leucine incorporation technique, in order to predict future changes in temperature sensitivity of resident soil bacterial communities. Soil samples were collected along a climate gradient consisting of locations on the Antarctic Peninsula (Anchorage Island, 67°34'S, 68°08'W), Signy Island (60°43'S, 45°38'W) and the Falkland Islands (51°76'S 59°03'W). At each location, experimental plots were subjected to warming by open top chambers (OTCs) and paired with control plots on vegetated and fell-field habitats. The bacterial communities were adapted to the mean annual temperature of their environment, as shown by a significant correlation between the mean annual soil temperature and the minimum temperature for bacterial growth (T