The project aims to characterize the microbial community of subarctic/arctic ponds and how it relates to quality and availability of organic matter. Due to climatic changes, an increase in organic matter caused by the thawing of permafrost is making these water bodies hotspots for the C cycle. Mainly, this project focuses on the characterization and the role of fungi in C degradation, but also bacterial and viral fractions of the community will be considered. Shotgun metagenomics and whole genome sequencing data analyses will be crucial steps to discover the functional potential of fungal communities that are involved in the C cycle in these environments.