Arctic Plant Roots May Play Key Role in Climate Change, Review Finds
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A new review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment finds that plant root systems beneath Arctic tundra soils are critical in determining whether thawing permafrost releases its vast carbon stores into the atmosphere or keeps them locked away.
A review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on November 2, 2026 highlights the critical role that plant roots play in how Arctic tundra ecosystems respond to climate change. Arctic permafrost holds an estimated 1,460 to 1,600 billion metric tons of organic carbon — roughly twice the amount currently in the atmosphere — and scientists are working to understand what happens to that carbon as global temperatures rise and the permafrost thaws.
The paper was led by Rebecca Hewitt of Amherst College, co-led by Gesche Blume-Werry of Umeå University and Thomas Parker of The James Hutton Institute in the UK, with contributions from eight other research organizations. While aboveground changes such as shrub growth and "Arctic greening" have received significant attention, the authors argue that roots and the surrounding soil environment are equally important in determining whether the tundra acts as a carbon source or a carbon sink.
The researchers found that rising temperatures and permafrost thawing can alter root productivity, depth, seasonal growth patterns and plant-soil interactions. Roots can help lock carbon into soils by supporting plant growth and adding organic matter, but they can also stimulate soil microbes that break down stored carbon and release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. Because these processes can push in either direction, the authors say improving climate predictions will require a much better understanding of how plant roots, soil microbes and thawing permafrost interact. "We hope that it will inspire more research on this important but understudied topic," said Blume-Werry, assistant professor at the Department of Ecology, Environment and Geoscience at Umeå University.
