NASA-supported researchers have provided detailed information about the biodiversity and distribution of microbial communities in permafrost environments on Earth. Permafrost is different from other soils on Earth and contains up to 50% of the Earth’s soil carbon. Approximately one quarter of the landmass of the Northern Hemisphere is composed of permafrost, yet the biogeography of microbial communities in this important environment had previously only been studied in a small number of sites.

The new study looked at 133 permafrost metagenomes from North America, Europe, and Asia. The results provide insight into the environmental conditions that affect these populations, and how they respond to soil thawing due to climate change. The researchers found that the biogeochemical processes that permafrost communities are involved in could affect both regional and global variation in greenhouse gas emissions.

The study, “Permafrost microbial communities and functional genes are structured by latitudinal and soil geochemical gradients,” was published in the ISME Journal.