Dual roles of microbes in mediating soil carbon dynamics in response to warming

Understanding the alterations in soil microbial communities in response to climate warming and their controls over soil carbon (C) processes is crucial for projecting permafrost C-climate feedback. However, previous studies have mainly focused on microorganism-mediated soil C release, and little is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2024-07, Vol.15 (1), p.6439-11, Article 6439
Main Authors: Qin, Shuqi, Zhang, Dianye, Wei, Bin, Yang, Yuanhe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/158/47/4113
704/47/4113
Carbon
Carbon - metabolism
Carbon Cycle
Climate Change
Feedback
Global Warming
Heterotrophic microorganisms
Humanities and Social Sciences
Microbial activity
Microbiota - physiology
Microorganisms
multidisciplinary
Organic soils
Permafrost
Permafrost - microbiology
Plants
Respiration
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Soil - chemistry
Soil dynamics
Soil Microbiology
Soil microorganisms
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Understanding the alterations in soil microbial communities in response to climate warming and their controls over soil carbon (C) processes is crucial for projecting permafrost C-climate feedback. However, previous studies have mainly focused on microorganism-mediated soil C release, and little is known about whether and how climate warming affects microbial anabolism and the subsequent C input in permafrost regions. Here, based on a more than half-decade of in situ warming experiment, we show that compared with ambient control, warming significantly reduces microbial C use efficiency and enhances microbial network complexity, which promotes soil heterotrophic respiration. Meanwhile, microbial necromass markedly accumulates under warming likely due to preferential microbial decomposition of plant-derived C, further leading to the increase in mineral-associated organic C. Altogether, these results demonstrate dual roles of microbes in affecting soil C release and stabilization, implying that permafrost C-climate feedback would weaken over time with dampened response of microbial respiration and increased proportion of stable C pool. Understanding microbial responses to climate warming is crucial for projecting permafrost carbon-climate feedback. Here, the authors reveal dual microbial roles in promoting both soil carbon release and stable soil carbon accrual under warming scenario.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-50800-4