Studying the soil at the top of the world has produced some findings that were surprising to Warner College of Natural Resources Associate Professor Matthew Wallenstein. The question Wallenstein and his research team are currently working to answer: "Is global warming being accelerated in the Arctic?"

Wallenstein was awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER grant in 2013 to study Arctic soil carbon emissions.

What is your research focused on in Arctic Alaska?

For thousands of years, massive amounts of carbon have been removed from the atmosphere by plants and locked away in Arctic soils. But this huge stockpile of carbon is vulnerable to being decomposed as the climate warms and thus released back to the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gasses. This would be a big problem because it could accelerate climate change, which is already happening rapidly in the Arctic. My research examines how microbes will processes this old organic matter as the climate changes. At the same time, plants are growing faster in the Arctic which counteracts soil carbon losses. So, we are also examining the rate at which this new plant carbon will be stabilized. The net balance between these two counteracting processes will determine the fate of this large carbon stock.

Why is the carbon stock important?

Soil organic matter, which is mostly carbon, is critical to supply nutrients to plants and for filtering water runoff before it reaches streams, lakes, and the ocean. It really is the foundation upon which life is built. Any change in the nature of soil organic matter can affect which plants are able to survive in that environment and how fast they can grow.

What has been your most surprising finding?

I've been amazed that the soil microbes in the Arctic are so well adapted to their environment. We've found that microbes not only survive, but are also metabolically active - eating, breathing and reproducing- in permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years. Soil microbes break down dead plant material, releasing their nutrients so that plants can grow.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Recently our Arctic team was featured on the PBS NewsHour. It was great opportunity to share our research with a broader audience.

For more information about Wallenstein's research in Arctic Alaska, visit his blog at

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