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

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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.