Molecular trade-offs in soil organic carbon composition at continental scale

Hall, Steven J.; Ye, Chenglong; Weintraub, Samantha R.; Hockaday, William C.

doi:10.1038/s41561-020-0634-x

Cited by 94 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Therefore, we agree with Hall et al. (2020) that climate classification holds the potential to reunite diverging explanations for SOC persistence to complementarity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

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New uses for old tools: Reviving Holdridge Life Zones in soil carbon persistence research

Jungkunst

Goepel

Horvath

et al. 2021

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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Growing evidence suggests that climate classification facilitates the identification of zones that either agree or disagree with processes explaining soil organic carbon (SOC) persistence. Already forty years ago, Post et al. (1982) posited that the strict temperature and precipitation‐based classification defining the Holdridge Life Zones (HLZ) provides a descriptive tool to guide our understanding of the heterogeneous distribution of global SOC stocks. Here we argue that this classification has the potential for describing SOC persistence by linking top‐down and bottom‐up approaches from different scales, which allows selection of individual regional relevancies necessary to manage and track the fate of our largest terrestrial carbon (C) reservoir.

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“…Therefore, we agree with Hall et al. (2020) that climate classification holds the potential to reunite diverging explanations for SOC persistence to complementarity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…At the same time, Hall et al. (2020) provided climate‐related predictors that explain ninety percent of the SOC composition variance. Hence, even at the molecular scale, SOC variability is determined by larger‐scaled environmental variables.…”

Section: The Old Tool and The New Challengementioning

confidence: 99%

New uses for old tools: Reviving Holdridge Life Zones in soil carbon persistence research

Jungkunst

Goepel

Horvath

et al. 2021

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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“…However, changes in soil C components under warming conditions across soils with different organic matter contents remain unknown, limiting our ability to predict the response of soils to climate change. Some studies have shown that the chemical complexity and changes in the molecular structure of SOC can determine the rates of microbial decomposition and C turnover under increasing temperatures 4 , 5 . For example, plant-derived polymers, such as lignin, have complex chemical structures that cannot easily decompose within a short time 6 , 7 , whereas low-molecular-weight compounds, such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, are more susceptible to the adverse effects of a warming climate 8 , because lower-molecular-weight C is less expensive to metabolize 9 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High stability and metabolic capacity of bacterial community promote the rapid reduction of easily decomposing carbon in soil

et al. 2021

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Irreversible climate change alters the decomposition and sequestration of soil carbon (C). However, the stability of C components in soils with different initial organic matter contents and its relationship with the response of major decomposers to climate warming are still unclear. In this study, we translocated Mollisols with a gradient of organic matter (OM) contents (2%–9%) from in situ cold region to five warmer climatic regions to simulate climate change. Soil C in C-rich soils (OM >5%) was more vulnerable to translocation warming than that in C-poor soils (OM ≤ 5%), with a major loss of functional groups like O-alkyl, O-aryl C and carboxyl C. Variations of microbial β diversity with latitude, temperature and precipitation indicated that C-rich soils contained more resistant bacterial communities and more sensitive fungal communities than C-poor soils, which led to strong C metabolism and high utilization ability of the community in C-rich soils in response to translocation warming. Our results suggest that the higher sensitivity of soils with high organic matter content to climate change is related to the stability and metabolic capacity of major bacterial decomposers, which is important for predicting soil-climate feedback.

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“…Apart from tundra, boreal and tropical forests also had relatively lower microbial necromass contributions to SOC compared with other ecosystems (Table 1). Relatively higher lignin versus protein in forest ecosystem organic matter inputs 13 or a low rhizosphere-to-bulk soil ratio in forests compared with other ecosystems could decrease SOC accumulation due to relatively low C transformation rates and efficiency 14 .…”

Section: Global Distribution Of Microbial Necromassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global microbial necromass contribution to soil organic matter

Liu¹,

Tian²,

He³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Soil organic matter (SOM) plays an important role in mitigating climate change and sustaining soil health and food production 1,2. Mounting evidence suggests that microbial necromass is the main contributor to SOM 3; however, we lack quantification of microbial necromass at a global scale, especially in subsoils. Here, we generate, for the first time, global distribution maps of microbial necromass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and contributions to SOM in topsoil and subsoil. Globally, necromass concentrations varied widely across ecosystems and by latitude, contributing 19-60% to SOC and 41-92% to soil N stocks, with particularly large accumulations in boreal and tropical ecosystems. On average, fungal necromass contributions to SOM are 3x greater than bacterial, although this varied across ecosystems. Microbial necromass contributions to SOC are strongly associated with soil C:N ratios and pH; necromass contributions are greater in soils with narrow C:N ratios and higher pH. Microbial necromass is on average 23 and 77 times greater than living microbial biomass in topsoil and subsoil, respectively. These data highlight the importance of necromass contributions to SOM, especially soil N, and the need for spatially resolved necromass data sets that can be used in biogeochemical models to estimate SOM dynamics more accurately.

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Molecular trade-offs in soil organic carbon composition at continental scale

Cited by 94 publications

References 56 publications

New uses for old tools: Reviving Holdridge Life Zones in soil carbon persistence research

New uses for old tools: Reviving Holdridge Life Zones in soil carbon persistence research

High stability and metabolic capacity of bacterial community promote the rapid reduction of easily decomposing carbon in soil

Global microbial necromass contribution to soil organic matter

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