Brief description of the project

One of the most dramatic expected impacts of climate changes is the alteration of the balance between the photosynthetic assimilation of carbon in plant biomass and soils and its release to the atmosphere (including the decomposition of organic matter). This balance is regulated by different abiotic factors and by the metabolic activities of microbial communities and plants. In Alpine environments these relationships could be even more interlinked since the changes occurring below- and above-ground are relatively larger compared to a more established ecosystem.

The ecological processes driving the network between microbial communities and the above-ground plant coverage can be elucidated only by an integrated multidisciplinary approach involving different expertise and considering both microorganisms and plants simultaneously to predict the future evolution of their taxonomic structure and metabolic activities due to CC.

General objectives and expected results of the project are:

1) Study of the patterns of C allocation and balance in plant-soil systems dominated by different pioneer plant species exposed to simulated future scenarios of Climate Change. 

2) Prediction of the modifications of soil microbial communities and plant activities exposed to simulated future scenarios of Climate Change.

To achieve these objectives, the use of both in-situ (soil monoliths transplantation from higher to a lower altitude) and ex-situ (soil monoliths transplantation to Ecotron experimental platforms) controlled environmental conditions represents a promising approach to estimate the impact of the ongoing CC on the structure and metabolic activities of the microbial communities, plants species and their reciprocal interactions.