Soil Diurnal Temperature Microcosm Study

The goal of the microcosm experiment was to evaluate the response of microorganisms to a diurnal temperature incubation regimen that reflected the large daily temperature changes observed in near surface soils (0-5 cm) (19 C to 37 C). As a control, microcosms were incubated at the mean temperature observed (25 C). In addition the response to the the same temperature regimens was tested in soils taken at 30 cm depth, where very little diurnal temperature variance is observed. It was hypothesized that the shallow 0-5 cm soils would possess a community of microorganisms that were adapted to diurnal temperature fluctuation.