Assume the Earth is hit by a large asteroid that lowers the average temperature of the planet to the extent that would eliminate most multicellular life. What would be the short term consequences for the microbial world? And later on?
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I imagine that by and large the short term consequences for Microbial would would be mostly limited to microbes that are dependent on that "most" of multicellular life that would be extinguished. For example, intestinal microbial communities would suddenly be homeless and quickly have to find a way to survive on their own as their preferred environment would be totally eliminated.
The most dramatic effect on the microbial would would be the extinction of a few species of microbes that had adapted so completely to living inside another creature that they were unable to survive on their own any longer, say like some Wolbachia species?
Microbes that do not depend on multicellular life would probably experience a period of good times afterwards as their environment was flooded with nutrients from the decay of all the things that were killed. Once that was gone their environment would return to its normal state prior to the elimination of most multicellular life.
Posted by: John Morales | February 09, 2012 at 10:36 PM