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Hu J, Du M, Chen J, Tie L, Zhou S, Buckeridge KM, Cornelissen JHC, Huang C, Kuzyakov Y. Microbial necromass under global change and implications for soil organic matter. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:3503-3515. [PMID: 36934319 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Microbial necromass is an important source and component of soil organic matter (SOM), especially within the most stable pools. Global change factors such as anthropogenic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) inputs, climate warming, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (eCO2 ), and periodic precipitation reduction (drought) strongly affect soil microorganisms and consequently, influence microbial necromass formation. The impacts of these global change factors on microbial necromass are poorly understood despite their critical role in the cycling and sequestration of soil carbon (C) and nutrients. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis to reveal general patterns of the effects of nutrient addition, warming, eCO2 , and drought on amino sugars (biomarkers of microbial necromass) in soils under croplands, forests, and grasslands. Nitrogen addition combined with P and K increased the content of fungal (+21%), bacterial (+22%), and total amino sugars (+9%), consequently leading to increased SOM formation. Nitrogen addition alone increased solely bacterial necromass (+10%) because the decrease of N limitation stimulated bacterial more than fungal growth. Warming increased bacterial necromass, because bacteria have competitive advantages at high temperatures compared to fungi. Other global change factors (P and NP addition, eCO2 , and drought) had minor effects on microbial necromass because of: (i) compensation of the impacts by opposite processes, and (ii) the short duration of experiments compared to the slow microbial necromass turnover. Future studies should focus on: (i) the stronger response of bacterial necromass to N addition and warming compared to that of fungi, and (ii) the increased microbial necromass contribution to SOM accumulation and stability under NPK fertilization, and thereby for negative feedback to climate warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junxi Hu
- College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE), Systems Ecology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Meilin Du
- College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jun Chen
- College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Liehua Tie
- Institute for Forest Resources and Environment Research Center of Guizhou Province, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
| | - Shixing Zhou
- College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | | | - J Hans C Cornelissen
- Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE), Systems Ecology Section, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Congde Huang
- College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
- Forestry Ecological Engineering in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yakov Kuzyakov
- Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russia
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Buckeridge KM, McLaren JR. Does plant community plasticity mediate microbial homeostasis? Ecol Evol 2020; 10:5251-5258. [PMID: 32607148 PMCID: PMC7319231 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial homeostasis-constant microbial element ratios along resource gradients-is a core ecological tenet, yet not all systems display homeostasis. We suggest investigations of homeostasis mechanisms must also consider plant-microbial interactions. Specifically, we hypothesized that ecosystems with strong plant community plasticity to changing resources will have homeostatic microbial communities, with less microbial resource cost, because plants reduce variance in resource stoichiometry. Using long-term nutrient additions in two ecosystems with differing plant response, we fail to support our hypothesis because although homeostasis appears stronger in the system with stronger plant response, microbial mechanisms were also stronger. However, our conclusions were undermined by high heterogeneity in resources, which may be common in ecosystem-level studies, and methodological assumptions may be exacerbated by shifting plant communities. We propose our study as a starting point for further ecosystem-scale investigations, with higher replication to address microbial and soil variability, and improved insight into microbial assimilable resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate M. Buckeridge
- Global Academy of Agriculture and Food SecurityThe Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary StudiesUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUK
| | - Jennie R. McLaren
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Texas at El PasoEl PasoTXUSA
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Malik AA, Puissant J, Buckeridge KM, Goodall T, Jehmlich N, Chowdhury S, Gweon HS, Peyton JM, Mason KE, van Agtmaal M, Blaud A, Clark IM, Whitaker J, Pywell RF, Ostle N, Gleixner G, Griffiths RI. Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3591. [PMID: 30181597 PMCID: PMC6123395 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Accepted: 08/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil–atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates. Land use intensification could modify microbial activity and thus ecosystem function. Here, Malik et al. sample microbes and carbon-related functions across a land use gradient, demonstrating that microbial biomass and carbon use efficiency are reduced in human-impacted near-neutral pH soils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashish A Malik
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK. .,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 92697, USA.
| | | | - Kate M Buckeridge
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Tim Goodall
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Nico Jehmlich
- Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, 04318, Germany
| | - Somak Chowdhury
- Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - Hyun Soon Gweon
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6UR, UK
| | - Jodey M Peyton
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK
| | - Kelly E Mason
- Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster, LA1 4AP, UK
| | | | - Aimeric Blaud
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | - Ian M Clark
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture Sciences, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ, UK
| | | | | | - Nick Ostle
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - Gerd Gleixner
- Department of Biogeochemical Processes, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, 07745, Germany
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McLaren JR, Buckeridge KM, Weg MJ, Shaver GR, Schimel JP, Gough L. Shrub encroachment in Arctic tundra:
Betula nana
effects on above‐ and belowground litter decomposition. Ecology 2017; 98:1361-1376. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.1790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2016] [Revised: 01/16/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jennie R. McLaren
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Texas at El Paso El Paso Texas 79968 USA
| | | | - Martine J. Weg
- The Ecosystems Center Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole Massachusetts 02543 USA
| | - Gaius R. Shaver
- The Ecosystems Center Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole Massachusetts 02543 USA
| | - Joshua P. Schimel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology University of California Santa Barbara Santa Barbara California 93106 USA
| | - Laura Gough
- Department of Biological Sciences Towson University Towson Maryland 21252 USA
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