青藏高原是对全球气候变化反应最敏感的地区之一，也是相关研究的关键地区。土壤是陆地生态系统最重要的碳库和氮库，储量远高于大气和植被，在地球的碳氮循环过程中起着举足轻重的作用。但是由于土壤微生物群落结构的复杂性及其相应分析技术限制，目前科学界对微生物响应全球气候变化的微观机制了解不多。本项目采用温度梯度、土壤移栽、时间梯度等多种方法研究气候变化，利用Illumina和基因芯片等宏基因组学技术，结合地质化学分析等方法分析青藏高原高寒草甸土壤生态系统多样性。集中探讨气候变化对土壤微生物群落结构以及生态功能的影响，从基因、菌种、菌群、群落、生态系统等多个层面上识别微生物群落结构和功能之间的关系，揭示土壤生态系统与地表植被、碳氮循环的相互作用，为高寒草甸的生物多样性保护和生态系统合理管理提供科学依据。

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the regions that are most sensitive to climate changes, rendering it a key region for research. Soil plays an important role in earth's biogeochemical cycles because it is the most important terrestrial carbon and nitrogen pools, which are far more than those in the atmosphere or aboveground vegetation. However, due to extremely high soil complexity and limitations of survey tools, it remains little understood how microbes respond and feedback to climate changes. This project targets this knowledge gap by three strategies (temperature gradient, soil transplant and time gradient). Advanced metagenomics tools of Illumina sequencing and GeoChip, combined with geochemical analysis methods, are adopted to analyze soil microbial communities of alpine meadow. We will analyze the impact of climate change on soil microbial community structure and ecological functioning, identify the linkages between the structure and function of microbial communities at the various levels of genes, bacteria, flora, communities, ecosystems, reveal the interaction of microbial communities and vegetation, the carbon and nitrogen cycles, and consequently provide a scientific basis for conservation and management of alpine meadow biodiversity.