Microbial responses to inorganic nutrient amendment overridden by warming: Consequences on soil carbon stability

Abstract

Eutrophication and climate warming, induced by anthropogenic activities, are simultaneously occurring worldwide and jointly affecting soil carbon stability. Therefore, it is of great interest to examine whether and how they interactively affect soil microbial community, a major soil carbon driver. Here, we showed that climate warming, simulated by southward transferring Mollisol soil in agricultural ecosystems from the cold temperate climate zone (N) to warm temperate climate (C) and subtropical climate zone (S), decreased soil organic matter (SOM) by 6%-12%. In contrast, amendment with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium enhanced plant biomass by 97% and SOM by 6% at the N site, thus stimulating copiotrophic taxa but reducing oligotrophic taxa in relative abundance. However, microbial responses to nutrient amendment were overridden by soil transfer in that nutrient amendment had little effect at the C site but increased recalcitrant carbon-degrading fungal Agaricomycetes and Microbotryomycetes taxa derived from Basidiomycota by 4-17 folds and recalcitrant carbon-degrading genes by 23%-40% at the S site, implying a possible priming effect. Consequently, SOM at the S site was not increased by nutrient amendment despite increased plant biomass by 108%. Collectively, we demonstrate that soil transfer to warmer regions overrides microbial responses to nutrient amendment and weakens soil carbon sequestration.

Microbial Community Structures and Important Associations Between Soil Nutrients and the Responses of Specific Taxa to Rice-Frog Cultivation

“…At the class level, the main enriched OTU in the rhizospheric soil was Agaricomycetes after RF. Most Agaricomycetes species are saprotrophic species and play key roles in the decomposition of organic matter, such as wood and plant litter (Hibbett, 2007; Wang J. et al, 2018; Wang M.M. et al, 2018), which might explain the high relative abundance of Agaricomycetes in RF.…”

Microbial metabolism and necromass mediated fertilization effect on soil organic carbon after long-term community incubation in different climates

“…A soil transplantation experiment was carried out since 2005 by translocation large transects of Mollisols soil from northern China (cold temperate zone) to central China (warm temperate zone) and southern China (middle subtropical zone), simulating multifactorial environmental changes in the field. The microbial biomass, diversity, community structure, and succession rates were significantly changed after years of translocation [26][27][28]. At present, more than 10 years of prolonged community incubation under different environmental conditions makes it a microbial adaptation experiment, with on top of fertilization treatment.…”

Contrasting Responses of Rhizosphere Fungi of Scutellaria tsinyunensis , an Endangered Plant in Southwestern China

“…Fungi from the Ascomycota are effective contributors in controlling plant pathogens, promoting plant development, and regulating carbon and nitrogen cycling in arid ecosystems ( 28 , 29 ). Similarly, fungi from Basidiomycota are well documented as promising agents for carbon recycling, ecosystem functioning, and medicinal properties ( 30 ). In addition, the co-occurrence network displayed that the most connected module (module 1) harbored 66.7% OTUs involved in Ascomycota.…”