Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Guelph (Canada), 2005
Soil microbial communities along a 2 km transect under isostatic rebound were described to evaluate possible trends functional and genetic diversity in the sub-Arctic tundra region. Although there was high 16S rDNA Eubacterial diversity in the samples, metabolic diversity was evenly distributed and exhibited similar metabolic function from the Hudson Bay shoreline to the boreal forest treeline. Differences in metabolic and genetic diversity were attributed to soil type (peat vs. sand) and seasonal variations in soil water content along the rebounding transect. It was observed that metabolic function from young shoreline soils maintain similar metabolic patterns as microbial communities from the older treeline soils. Ubiquitously occurring microbial community members identified by thermal melt kinetics and PCR-DGGE account for the dominant mesophilic metabolic activities. This research is the first to described microbial communities along an isostatic emerging terrestrial environment in the Canadian sub-Arctic
