Microbial respiratory thermal adaptation is regulated by r‐/K‐strategy dominance

• Published in: Ecology letters 2022-11, Vol.25 (11), p.2489-2499
• Main Authors: Chen, Hongyang, Jing, Qingfang, Liu, Xiang, Zhou, Xuhui, Fang, Changming, Li, Bo, Zhou, Shurong, Nie, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Carbon cycle; carbon cycling; climate warming; Community composition; Ecological effects; ecological strategy; Microbial activity; microbial community; Microorganisms; Rhizosphere; Soils
• ISSN: 1461-023X; 1461-0248
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.14106

Microbial thermal adaptation is considered to be one of the core mechanisms affecting soil carbon cycling. However, the role of microbial community composition in controlling thermal adaptation is poorly understood. Using microbial communities from the rhizosphere and bulk soils in an 8‐year warming experiment as a model, we experimentally demonstrate that respiratory thermal adaptation was much stronger in microbial K‐strategist‐dominated bulk soils than in microbial r‐strategist‐dominated rhizosphere soils. Soil carbon availability exerted strong selection on the dominant ecological strategy of the microbial community, indirectly influencing respiratory thermal adaptation. Our findings shed light on the linchpin of the dominant ecological strategy exhibited by the microbial community in determining its respiratory thermal adaptation, with implications for understanding soil carbon losses under warming. Microbial respiratory thermal adaptation is considered to be one of the core mechanisms affecting soil carbon cycling. We found that respiratory thermal adaptation was much stronger in the K‐strategist‐dominant microbial community than in the r‐strategist‐dominant microbial community, and emphasise the importance of the dominant ecological strategy exhibited by the microbial community in determining its respiratory thermal adaptation, with implications for understanding soil carbon losses under warming.