low the surface of arctic tundra is a matrix of soil, roots, and fungal hyphae that may play a critical role in the trajectory of future climate change. For millennia arctic plants have persisted in cold, wet, and shallow soils underlain with permafrost, permanently frozen ground, in many regions of the Arctic. However, with unprecedented warming in the last century, these plants may see the amelioration of their harsh, belowground environment. With a warming climate, the depths to which permafrost soils thaw each summer increase, potentially providing greater access to drier and more nutrient rich soil resources. |