PNNL

Abstract

Climate change is influencing Earth’s soil environments in various ways as highlighted in the most recent IPCC report1. Many terrestrial regions around the globe are experiencing more extended and extreme drought events. Other areas are experiencing more flooding and altered precipitation patterns. These changes, combined with warming of the Arctic and increased fire frequencies are resulting in rapid and radical changes to soil ecosystems and the life forms that reside there, including viruses. Sequencing and other omics technologies have proven to be extremely valuable for understanding how shifts in climate influence soil microorganisms. Recently, the same techniques have become sufficiently sophisticated to enable viral sequences to be detected and quantified. Here, we will highlight what has been reported to date in the literature and provide our own perspective on future research needs to better understand how climate change will impact soil viral ecology.