Arctic Soil Study Turns Up Surprising Results

Across the globe, the diversity of plant and animal species generally increases from the North and South Poles towards the Equator but surprisingly that rule isn't true for soil bacteria, according to a new study by Queen's University biology professor Paul Grogan.

The report also had a second surprising finding. The researchers expected that soil samples taken 20 metres apart would be more similar in terms of bacterial diversity than soil samples taken 5,500 kilometres apart because, in theory, plant or animal communities from nearby locations are likely to be more genetically similar than those from distant locations.

Generally, they found that each soil sample contained thousands of bacterial types, about 50 per cent of which were unique to each sample.

The findings have been accepted for publication in the journal Environmental Microbiology.

For more information:

http://www.queensu.ca/news/articles/arctic-soil-study-turns-surprising-results