Nemergut et al. 2005

Nemergut DR, Costello EK, Meyer AF, Pescador MY, Weintraub MN, Schmidt SK. 2005. Structure and function of alpine and arctic soil microbial communities. Research in Microbiology 156: 775-784.

These authors review the current state of knowledge of microbial communities in cold- and snow-affected soils. Their primary study site is a ridge in Colorado with a range of habitats from sub-alpine forest to glaciated mountain-tops; all areas receive significant snow cover for much of the year. They describe only three studies of microbial communities in the Arctic, stating these are the only such studies to their knowledge at the time of preparation of this paper.

The referenced work in this review clearly demonstrates that microbial communities are active when snow covered, contrary to the previous assumption that low temperatures would effectively prohibit microbial metabolisms during winter. Indeed, microbial biomass is actually highest in winter in the alpine tundra systems studied and lowest in spring after an apparent population crash. A wide diversity of microbes has been found, from Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucaryea, including deeply divergent lineages with no known associations with described groups. The physiologies and ecological functions of many of these microbes are completely unknown.

This paper provides a useful overview of the state of the field of cold-soils microecology, with many interesting references and some surprising synthesized findings. This research group in Colorado appears to be one of the few groups in the world studying cold soil microbial communities and their links to climate change.