Abisko Long-Term Experiment: Can fungi control climate trough carbon seguestration in arctic tundra?

One of the Arctic region’s most important services is storing in its soils about twice the amount of carbon that is currently contained in our atmosphere. With climate change, the Arctic changes dramatically, particularly in terms of vegetation composition. An important way in which plants affect carbon storage is by their interactions with symbiotic soil fungi – mycorrhiza – as they have a great ability to store carbon belowground, although the way in which they do this depends on the plant species. Changes in vegetation composition therefore will also determine which types of fungi can be found in the landscape.

To study how changed soil fungal communities affect carbon storage, this experiment we will remove fungal types from the soil by removing their symbiotic plant species. We will monitor the gradual changes in fungal community and various processes affecting soil carbon storage in the short- and long-term. This will provide a novel and holistic understanding about the role of vegetation change in carbon storage in the Arctic.