Environmental Change Biology
This key research area addresses the impact of a changing climate on evolution, physiology, and ecology at all levels of biological organisation and at all spatial scales from molecules and cells to ecosystems and beyond. It also encompasses feedback loops between the various components of the biological system and the physical environment.
Speakers: Stefan Dullinger, Andreas Richter
Global warming accelerates the decomposition of organic matter in permafrost soils (northern Siberia), making positive feedbacks to climate change likely
Microbial processes have a central role in the global fluxes of the key biogenic greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and are likely to respond rapidly to climate change.
Singh et.al., Nature Reviews Microbiology 8 (2010)