scholarly journals Annual Removal of Aboveground Plant Biomass Alters Soil Microbial Responses to Warming

mBio ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Xue ◽  
Mengting M. Yuan ◽  
Jianping Xie ◽  
Dejun Li ◽  
Yujia Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Functional Genes ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Recalcitrant Carbon ◽  
Microbial Responses

ABSTRACT Clipping (i.e., harvesting aboveground plant biomass) is common in agriculture and for bioenergy production. However, microbial responses to clipping in the context of climate warming are poorly understood. We investigated the interactive effects of grassland warming and clipping on soil properties and plant and microbial communities, in particular, on microbial functional genes. Clipping alone did not change the plant biomass production, but warming and clipping combined increased the C 4 peak biomass by 47% and belowground net primary production by 110%. Clipping alone and in combination with warming decreased the soil carbon input from litter by 81% and 75%, respectively. With less carbon input, the abundances of genes involved in degrading relatively recalcitrant carbon increased by 38% to 137% in response to either clipping or the combined treatment, which could weaken long-term soil carbon stability and trigger positive feedback with respect to warming. Clipping alone also increased the abundance of genes for nitrogen fixation, mineralization, and denitrification by 32% to 39%. Such potentially stimulated nitrogen fixation could help compensate for the 20% decline in soil ammonium levels caused by clipping alone and could contribute to unchanged plant biomass levels. Moreover, clipping tended to interact antagonistically with warming, especially with respect to effects on nitrogen cycling genes, demonstrating that single-factor studies cannot predict multifactorial changes. These results revealed that clipping alone or in combination with warming altered soil and plant properties as well as the abundance and structure of soil microbial functional genes. Aboveground biomass removal for biofuel production needs to be reconsidered, as the long-term soil carbon stability may be weakened. IMPORTANCE Global change involves simultaneous alterations, including those caused by climate warming and land management practices (e.g., clipping). Data on the interactive effects of warming and clipping on ecosystems remain elusive, particularly in microbial ecology. This study found that clipping alters microbial responses to warming and demonstrated the effects of antagonistic interactions between clipping and warming on microbial functional genes. Clipping alone or combined with warming enriched genes degrading relatively recalcitrant carbon, likely reflecting the decreased quantity of soil carbon input from litter, which could weaken long-term soil C stability and trigger positive warming feedback. These results have important implications in assessing and predicting the consequences of global climate change and indicate that the removal of aboveground biomass for biofuel production may need to be reconsidered.

scholarly journals Early Spring Snowmelt and Summer Droughts Strongly Impair the Resilience of Key Microbial Communities in Subalpine Grassland Ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farhan Hafeez ◽  
Lionel Bernard ◽  
Jean-Christophe Clement ◽  
Franck Poly ◽  
Thomas Pommier
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Climatic Extremes ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Cascading Effect ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Microbial Responses ◽  
Early Snowmelt

Subalpine grassland ecosystems are important from biodiversity, agriculture, and touristic perspectives but their resilience to seasonally occurring climatic extremes is increasingly challenged with climate change, accelerating their vulnerability to tipping points. Microbial communities, which are central in ecosystem functioning, are usually considered as more resistant and highly resilient to such extreme events due to their functional redundancy and strong selection in residing habitats. To investigate this, we explored the soil microbial responses upon recurrent summer droughts associated with early snowmelt in grasslands mesocosms set-up at the Lautaret Pass (French Alps). Potential respiration, nitrification and denitrification were monitored over a period of two growing seasons along with quantification of community gene abundances of total bacteria as well as (de)nitrifiers. Results revealed that droughts had a low and short-term impact on bacterial total respiration supporting their hypothesized high resistance and ability to recover. Nitrification and abundances of the corresponding functional guilds showed relatively strong resistance to summer droughts but declined in response to early snowmelt. This triggered a cascading effect on denitrification but also on the abundances of denitrifying communities which could recover from all climatic extremes except from the summer droughts where nitrifiers were collapsed. Denitrification and the respective functional groups faced high impact of applied stresses with strong reduction in the abundance and activity of this specialized community. Although, the consequently lower microbial competition for nitrate may be positive for plant biomass production, warnings exist when considering the potential nitrogen leaching from these ecosystems as well as risks of greenhouses gases emission such as N2O

scholarly journals Long-Term Oil Contamination Alters the Molecular Ecological Networks of Soil Microbial Functional Genes

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuting Liang ◽  
Huihui Zhao ◽  
Ye Deng ◽  
Jizhong Zhou ◽  
Guanghe Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Functional Genes ◽  
Oil Contamination ◽  
Soil Microbial

scholarly journals Responses of soil microbial functional genes to global changes are indirectly influenced by aboveground plant biomass variation

2017 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 18-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Li ◽  
Shan Yang ◽  
Zhuwen Xu ◽  
Qingyun Yan ◽  
Xiaobin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Functional Genes ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Soil Microbial

scholarly journals Long-Term Effects of Soil Remediation with Willow Short Rotation Coppice on Biogeographic Pattern of Microbial Functional Genes

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Wenjing Liu ◽  
Kai Xue ◽  
Runpeng Hu ◽  
Jizhong Zhou ◽  
Joy D. Van Nostrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Gene Diversity ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Short Rotation Coppice ◽  
Functional Genes ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Biogeographic Pattern ◽  
Short Rotation

Short rotation coppice (SRC) is increasingly being adopted for bioenergy production, pollution remediation and land restoration. However, its long-term effects on soil microbial communities are poorly characterized. Here, we studied soil microbial functional genes and their biogeographic pattern under SRC with willow trees as compared to those under permanent grassland (C). GeoChip analysis showed a lower functional gene diversity in SRC than in C soil, whereas microbial ATP and respiration did not change. The SRC soil had lower relative abundances of microbial genes encoding for metal(-oid) resistance, antibiotic resistance and stress-related proteins. This indicates a more benign habitat under SRC for microbial communities after relieving heavy metal stress, consistent with the lower phytoavailability of some metals (i.e., As, Cd, Ni and Zn) and higher total organic carbon, NO3−-N and P concentrations. The microbial taxa–area relationship was valid in both soils, but the space turnover rate was higher under SRC within 0.125 m2, which was possibly linked to a more benign environment under SRC, whereas similar values were reached beyond thisarea. Overall, we concluded that SRC management can be considered as a phytotechnology that ameliorates the habitat for soil microorganisms, owing to TOC and nutrient enrichment on the long-term.

Long-term effects of grassland management on soil microbial abundance: implications for soil carbon and nitrogen storage

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Egan ◽  
Xue Zhou ◽  
Dongmei Wang ◽  
Zhongjun Jia ◽  
Michael J. Crawley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Nitrogen Storage ◽  
Microbial Abundance ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Soil Carbon And Nitrogen

scholarly journals Soil Microbial Responses to 28 Years of Nutrient Fertilization in a Subarctic Heath

Ecosystems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1107-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lettice C. Hicks ◽  
Kathrin Rousk ◽  
Riikka Rinnan ◽  
Johannes Rousk
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Soil Microorganisms ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
C And N Mineralization ◽  
Microbial Responses ◽  
Soil C And N ◽  
C And N

AbstractArctic and subarctic soils are typically characterized by low nitrogen (N) availability, suggesting N-limitation of plants and soil microorganisms. Climate warming will stimulate the decomposition of organic matter, resulting in an increase in soil nutrient availability. However, it remains unclear how soil microorganisms in N-limited soils will respond, as the direct effect of inorganic N addition is often shown to inhibit microbial activity, while elevated N availability may have a positive effect on microorganisms indirectly, due to a stimulation of plant productivity. Here we used soils from a long-term fertilization experiment in the Subarctic (28 years at the time of sampling) to investigate the net effects of chronic N-fertilization (100 kg N ha−1 y−1, added together with 26 kg P and 90 kg K ha−1 y−1, as expected secondary limiting nutrients for plants) on microbial growth, soil C and N mineralization, microbial biomass, and community structure. Despite high levels of long-term fertilization, which significantly increased primary production, we observed relatively minor effects on soil microbial activity. Bacterial growth exhibited the most pronounced response to long-term fertilization, with higher rates of growth in fertilized soils, whereas fungal growth remained unaffected. Rates of basal soil C and N mineralization were only marginally higher in fertilized soils, whereas fertilization had no significant effect on microbial biomass or microbial community structure. Overall, these findings suggest that microbial responses to long-term fertilization in these subarctic tundra soils were driven by an increased flow of labile plant-derived C due to stimulated plant productivity, rather than by direct fertilization effects on the microbial community or changes in soil physiochemistry.

scholarly journals Utilization of the biological nitrogen fixation for soil evaluation

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 359-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Šimon
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Nitrogenase Activity ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Soil Evaluation ◽  
Biological Nitrogen

Non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation (potential nitrogenase activity – PNA) of soil samples originating from different plots of long-term field experiments (selected variants: Nil, NPK [mineral fertilisation: 64.6–100 kg N/ha/year], FYM [farmyard manure], and FYM + NPK from three blocks III, IV and B with different crop rotation) was determined in laboratory experiments. The symbiotic nitrogen fixation (total nitrogenase activity – TNA) of the same soil samples was evaluated in hydroponic experiments with pea (2001, 2002) and lucerne (2001) in which the soil samples were used as a natural inoculum. The high values of PNA were found in the variants fertilised with FYM in all three blocks and all experiments. Simultaneously, the variants fertilised with mineral NPK reached low values of PNA. The farmyard manuring enhanced the number of free-living bacteria Azotobacter spp. that were identified in all soil samples. In the hydroponic experiments with pea, the highest nonsignificant values of TNA were found in variants B 284 (FYM + NPK) and III 254 (FYM + NPK) in 2001, and B 214 (FYM) and III 214 (FYM) in 2002. Plants inoculated with soil from these variants formed also high amounts of nodules (significant differences in block IV in 2001) and plant biomass. In the experiments with lucerne, the nonsignificantly highest TNA values were found in variant III 154 (NPK). Variants from block III (214, 254) and IV (114 and 154) showed the nonsignificantly lowest TNA values. The rhizobia that effectuate symbiosis with pea were more active in the soil samples in 2001 than those forming nodules on lucerne.

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