Bacteria isolated from Harvard Forest soils

Climate change is expected to increase temperatures and drought conditions around the world. To examine potential effects of increased global temperatures, a field warming experiment was established in the Harvard Research Forest (HRF), a temperate forest ecosystem in Petersham, MA (42.54 degreesN, 272.18 degreesW). Drought microcosms were established using model soils to understand the effect of water stress on microbial physiology, and to test for bacterial adaptation to drought among bacteria isolated from long-term warming compared to those isolated from control soils.