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Bowen JL, Kearns PJ, Holcomb M, Ward BBL
Acidification alters the composition of ammonia-oxidizing microbial assemblages in marine mesocosms
Increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are lowering the pH of the oceans. This may unpredictably change key N cycling processes, as the microbial assemblages responsible for the cycling are complex and diverse, with a high degree of metabolic redundancy. Bowen and co-workers show that ammonia oxidizing assemblages (AOA) are differentially affected by changing pH, with a stronger response in ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). Moreover, since the response varies among closely related taxa within the AOB, their results suggest that simple chemical feedbacks, such as direct effects of pH on microbial physiology, do not sufficiently explain the overall biogeochemical response.
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