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Low‐salinity transitions drive abrupt microbial response to sea‐level change
Author(s) -
Whittle Alex,
Barnett Robert L.,
Charman Dan J.,
GallegoSala Angela V.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.13893
Subject(s) - ecosystem , environmental science , salinity , ecology , climate change , soil salinity , oceanography , biology , geology
The salinisation of many coastal ecosystems is underway and is expected to continue into the future because of sea‐level rise and storm intensification brought about by the changing climate. However, the response of soil microbes to increasing salinity conditions within coastal environments is poorly understood, despite their importance for nutrient cascading, carbon sequestration and wider ecosystem functioning. Here, we demonstrate deterioration in the productivity of a top‐tier microbial group (testate amoebae) with increasing coastal salinity, which we show to be consistent across phylogenetic groups, salinity gradients, environment types and latitude. Our results show that microbial changes occur in the very early stages of marine inundation, presaging more radical changes in soil and ecosystem function and providing an early warning of coastal salinisation that could be used to improve coastal planning and adaptation.