Microbial temperature sensitivity and biomass change explain soil carbon loss with warming

Walker, T., Kaiser, C., Strasser, F., Herbold, C., Leblans, N., Woebken, D., Janssens, I., Sigurdsson, B., et al. (2018). Microbial temperature sensitivity and biomass change explain soil carbon loss with warming. Nature Climate Change 8 (9) 885-889. 10.1038/s41558-018-0259-x.

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Project: Effects of phosphorus limitations on Life, Earth system and Society (IMBALANCE-P, FP7 610028), Revealing the function of dormant soil microorganisms and the cues for their awakening (DormantMicrobes, H2020 636928), Nitrification Reloaded - a Single Cell Approach (NITRICARE, FP7 294343)

Abstract

Soil microorganisms control carbon losses from soils to the atmosphere, yet their responses to climate warming are often short-lived and unpredictable. Two mechanisms, microbial acclimation and substrate depletion, have been proposed to explain temporary warming effects on soil microbial activity. However, empirical support for either mechanism is unconvincing. Here we used geothermal temperature gradients (>50 years of field warming) and a short-term experiment to show that microbial activity (gross rates of growth, turnover, respiration and carbon uptake) is intrinsically temperature sensitive and does not acclimate to warming (+6 °C) over weeks or decades. Permanently accelerated microbial activity caused carbon loss from soil. However, soil carbon loss was temporary because substrate depletion reduced microbial biomass and constrained the influence of microbes over the ecosystem. A microbial biogeochemical model showed that these observations are reproducible through a modest, but permanent, acceleration in microbial physiology. These findings reveal a mechanism by which intrinsic microbial temperature sensitivity and substrate depletion together dictate warming effects on soil carbon loss via their control over microbial biomass. We thus provide a framework for interpreting the links between temperature, microbial activity and soil carbon loss on timescales relevant to Earth’s climate system.

Item Type: Article
Research Programs: Evolution and Ecology (EEP)
Depositing User: Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited: 18 Sep 2018 06:03
Last Modified: 27 Aug 2021 17:30
URI: https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/15459

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