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Dead or alive? Modeling how microorganisms in soil shape the global carbon cycle2 min read

by niba on March 3, 2022

Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division

Living soil microorganisms are extremely powerful and incredibly diverse biogeochemical engines driving the turnover of organic matter in the terrestrial biosphere. However, it is not only in life that microbes control the future of the global carbon cycle and Earth system productivity. In fact, dead microbial biomass, or necromass, is one of the largest stocks of organic carbon on Earth, making up as much as 50 percent of the total soil organic carbon pool. A new review appearing in Nature Reviews Microbiology, co-authored by Eoin Brodie and Gianna Marschmann of EESA , outlines how it is now possible to leverage new conceptual understanding, emerging technologies and modeling capabilities to predict how the life and death of soil microbes may impact the planet’s soil carbon stocks. 

“Here at Berkeley Lab, we are most excited about new opportunities to develop a robust, data-driven foundation for integrating the microbial ecology of life and death into forecasts of biogeochemical models, from the global system-level scale all the way down to the molecular scale of mineral/carbon/water/microbe/plant interfaces” said Gianna Marschmann, a postdoc in the Department of Energy’s Genomic Sciences program “Microbes Persist” Soil Microbiome Scientific Focus Area led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Together with Jinyun Tang and Ulas Karaoz, staff and research scientists in EESA, the team is developing computational workflows to connect microbial traits inferred from genome sequences with trait-based microbial models as a foundation for enabling multiscale microbial modeling. The computational pipeline, outlined in the review article, will be part of the Department of Energy’s Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase), providing new community capabilities that will enable researchers to inform and benchmark biogeochemical models with trait-based data, ultimately enhancing our understanding of Earth’s microbial engines and their impact on changes to the global carbon cycle. 

Read the news release issued by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory here.

News & Events

EESA Research Scientist Selected for NAE 2022 U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium2 min read

May 23, 2022

Mengsu Hu, an EESA research scientist, was selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium in September. For more than 25 years, the NAE has identified the best and brightest early-career engineers from large and small companies, research universities, and government laboratories to discuss their leading-edge research and…

Microbial Response to a Changing and Fire-Prone Arctic Ecosystem2 min read

April 27, 2022

Burning more than 1,000 square kilometers of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, the 2007 Anaktuvuk river wildfire is one of the largest fires to occur within Arctic ecosystems. Berkeley Lab scientist Nick Bouskill led a study that used data from this disturbance event to predict ecosystem recovery as fires advance in a changing climate. (Credit:…

Study Evaluates Phosphorus Availability Underground using Plant Leaves as Biosensors3 min read

April 25, 2022

When envisioning renewable energy, sources that often come to mind are the sun, wind, batteries, and water. However, biofuel, a type of renewable energy that converts organic material from plants into liquid fuel, is an important part of a global effort to achieve net-zero emissions. Switchgrass, a deep-rooted native North American grass that grows in…

EESA Multimedia Producer and Digital Strategist Niba Audrey Nirmal Awarded Ocean Science Journalism Fellowship1 min read

Niba Audrey Nirmal, EESA Multimedia Producer and Digital Strategist, has been awarded the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) Ocean Science Journalism (OSJ) Fellowship.   In May, Nirmal will join nine other selected fellows on a five-day, experiential-learning based retreat at the WHOI located in Falmouth, Massachusetts to learn about ocean-science concepts ranging from marine biology to…

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