Climate change puts riverbed microbes under constant stress, study finds

From small streams to gigantic rivers like the Mississippi, microbes in sediment work tirelessly to maintain key biogeochemical cycles. However, as temperatures rise, they tend to frequently operate in stress mode. This is the conclusion of an international study led by the University of Duisburg-Essen, which analyzed DNA and mRNA from 20 North American rivers. The results, recently published in the journal Microbiome, confirm trends also observed for European rivers.