Microbial community shifts associated with rapid climate change during the transition between recent geological epochs

在2002年《自然》杂志的一篇评论文章中，保罗·克鲁岑认为，人类驱动的气候变暖导致了地质时代的转变，从全新世(H)转向被称为人类世(A)的新纪元。这种转变至少与大约11500年前从最后一个冰河时代(P)到现代冰河时代(H)的转变一样戏剧性，如果不是更戏剧性的话。由于冰冻圈在调节高纬度生态系统方面的重要性，北方特别容易受到气候影响的影响。此外，北极变暖的速度比全球平均地表温度上升的速度快两到三倍，这一效应被称为极地放大。微生物是北极系统的重要驱动力，在养分循环以及碳周转和储存中发挥重要作用，也是通过微生物群落结构的演替发展来指示生态系统变化的指标。因此，微生物群落可以洞察不断变化的北方环境中生态系统功能和结构的变化。

In a 2002 Nature commentary, Paul Crutzen argued that human-driven climate warming has resulted in a shift in geological epochs, from the Holocene (H) to a new epoch dubbed the Anthropocene (A). This shift is at least as dramatic as, if not more so than, the shift about 11,500 years ago from the last ice age (P) to the modern (H). Due to the importance of the cryosphere in regulating high latitude ecosystems, the North is particularly susceptible to climate effects. Furthermore, warming in the Arctic is occurring two to three times faster than the increase in global mean surface temperatures, an effect known as polar amplification. Microorganisms are important drivers in Arctic systems, playing significant roles in nutrient cycling as well as carbon turnover and storage, and are also indicators of ecosystem changes through successional development of microbial community structure. As such, microbial communities can provide insight into changes in both ecosystem function and structure in a changing Northern environment.