Quantifying thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration

Alster, Charlotte J.; van de Laar, Allycia; Goodrich, Jordan P.; Arcus, Vickery L.; Deslippe, Julie R.; Marshall, Alexis J.; Schipper, Louis A.

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-41096-x

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 115 publications

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“…The intrinsic temperature sensitivity of soil microbes is challenging to alter over time scales ranging from weeks to decades, despite their rapid adaptability under harsh conditions (Alster et al., 2023; Walker et al., 2018). Microbial physiological processes are sustained by changes in microbial biomass, which are influenced by the intrinsic temperature sensitivity of soil microbes (Karhu et al., 2014; Simon et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity and soil organic carbon decomposition in response to climate change

Li,

Delgado‐Baquerizo,

Ding

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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Soil microbes are essential for regulating carbon stocks under climate change. However, the uncertainty surrounding how microbial temperature responses control carbon losses under warming conditions highlights a significant gap in our climate change models. To address this issue, we conducted a fine‐scale analysis of soil organic carbon composition under different temperature gradients and characterized the corresponding microbial growth and physiology across various paddy soils spanning 4000 km in China. Our results showed that warming altered the composition of organic matter, resulting in a reduction in carbohydrates of approximately 0.026% to 0.030% from humid subtropical regions to humid continental regions. These changes were attributed to a decrease in the proportion of cold‐preferring bacteria, leading to significant soil carbon losses. Our findings suggest that intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity plays a crucial role in determining the rate of soil organic carbon decomposition, providing insights into the temperature limitations faced by microbial activities and their impact on soil carbon‐climate feedback.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity and soil organic carbon decomposition in response to climate change

Li,

Delgado‐Baquerizo,

Ding

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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“…The residual standard errors indicate that Ratkowsky 1983 is a more appropriate fit for our data of growth rate over temperature compared to MMRT. However, we are particularly interested in MMRT due to its underlying thermodynamic theory, as well as its application in soil ecosystems ( 19 , 20 , 52 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…where A is the slope and B is the value of at T 0 ( 20 ). We used a non-linear least-squares regression in R version 4.2.1 to fit MMRT and calculated the Topt and Tinf numerically using the first and second derivatives, respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We estimated the intrinsic growth rate for each replicate isolate at each temperature ( 17 ). The Ratkowsky 1983 model ( 18 ) and a modified version of Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT) ( 19 , 20 ) were fitted to data for growth rate over temperature for each isolate to estimate temperature sensitivity of growth, optimum growth temperature, and maximum growth temperature. We chose the Ratkowsky 1983 model because it is a widely accepted model for bacterial growth over temperature and the MMRT model because of its underlying thermodynamic theory and application in soil microbial communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal adaptation of soil microbial growth traits in response to chronic warming

Eng,

Narayanan,

Alster

et al. 2023

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Adaptation of soil microbes due to warming from climate change has been observed, but it remains unknown what microbial growth traits are adaptive to warming. We studied bacterial isolates from the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site, where field soils have been experimentally heated to 5°C above ambient temperature with unheated controls for 30 years. We hypothesized that Alphaproteobacteria from warmed plots have (i) less temperature-sensitive growth rates; (ii) higher optimum growth temperatures; and (iii) higher maximum growth temperatures compared to isolates from control plots. We made high-throughput measurements of bacterial growth in liquid cultures over time and across temperatures from 22°C to 37°C in 2–3°C increments. We estimated growth rates by fitting Gompertz models to the growth data. Temperature sensitivity of growth rate, optimum growth temperature, and maximum growth temperature were estimated by the Ratkowsky 1983 model and a modified Macromolecular Rate Theory (MMRT) model. To determine evidence of adaptation, we ran phylogenetic generalized least squares tests on isolates from warmed and control soils. Our results showed evidence of adaptation of higher optimum growth temperature of bacterial isolates from heated soils. However, we observed no evidence of adaptation of temperature sensitivity of growth and maximum growth temperature. Our project begins to capture the shape of the temperature response curves, but illustrates that the relationship between growth and temperature is complex and cannot be limited to a single point in the biokinetic range. IMPORTANCE Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon sink and the foundation of our food, fiber, and fuel systems. Healthy soils are carbon sinks, storing more carbon than they release. This reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and buffers against climate change. Soil microbes drive biogeochemical cycling and contribute to soil health through organic matter breakdown, plant growth promotion, and nutrient distribution. In this study, we determined how soil microbial growth traits respond to long-term soil warming. We found that bacterial isolates from warmed plots showed evidence of adaptation of optimum growth temperature. This suggests that increased microbial biomass and growth in a warming world could result in greater carbon storage. As temperatures increase, greater microbial activity may help reduce the soil carbon feedback loop. Our results provide insight on how atmospheric carbon cycling and soil health may respond in a warming world.

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Moisture conditions trigger different response patterns of soil respiration to biochar-induced changes in soil vertical water content and temperature based on a three-year field observation study

Yang,

Zhang,

et al. 2025

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Quantifying thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration

Cited by 15 publications

References 115 publications

Intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity and soil organic carbon decomposition in response to climate change

Intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity and soil organic carbon decomposition in response to climate change

Thermal adaptation of soil microbial growth traits in response to chronic warming

Moisture conditions trigger different response patterns of soil respiration to biochar-induced changes in soil vertical water content and temperature based on a three-year field observation study

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