Plant-microbial linkages underpin carbon sequestration in contrasting mountain tundra vegetation types |
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Author: | Gavazov, Konstantin1,2; Canarini, Alberto3; Jassey, Vincent E. J.4; |
Organizations: |
1Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland 2Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå Universitet, 98107, Abisko, Sweden 3Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria
4ECOLAB, Laboratoire D’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, Toulouse, France
5Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, YO10 5DD, York, United Kingdom 6Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901 83, Umeå, Sweden 7Ecology and Genetics Research Unit, University of Oulu, 90014, Oulu, Finland 8Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, 96101, Rovaniemi, Finland 9Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland 10Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 11Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore |
Format: | article |
Version: | published version |
Access: | open |
Online Access: | PDF Full Text (PDF, 5.5 MB) |
Persistent link: | http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe202201041134 |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier,
2022
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Publish Date: | 2022-01-04 |
Description: |
AbstractTundra ecosystems hold large stocks of soil organic matter (SOM), likely due to low temperatures limiting rates of microbial SOM decomposition more than those of SOM accumulation from plant primary productivity and microbial necromass inputs. Here we test the hypotheses that distinct tundra vegetation types and their carbon supply to characteristic rhizosphere microbes determine SOM cycling independent of temperature. In the subarctic Scandes, we used a three-way factorial design with paired heath and meadow vegetation at each of two elevations, and with each combination of vegetation type and elevation subjected during one growing season to either ambient light (i.e., ambient plant productivity), or 95% shading (i.e., reduced plant productivity). We assessed potential above- and belowground ecosystem linkages by uni- and multivariate analyses of variance, and structural equation modelling. We observed direct coupling between tundra vegetation type and microbial community composition and function, which underpinned the ecosystem’s potential for SOM storage. Greater primary productivity at low elevation and ambient light supported higher microbial biomass and nitrogen immobilisation, with lower microbial mass-specific enzymatic activity and SOM humification. Congruently, larger SOM at lower elevation and in heath sustained fungal-dominated microbial communities, which were less substrate-limited, and invested less into enzymatic SOM mineralisation, owing to a greater carbon-use efficiency (CUE). Our results highlight the importance of tundra plant community characteristics (i.e., productivity and vegetation type), via their effects on soil microbial community size, structure and physiology, as essential drivers of SOM turnover. The here documented concerted patterns in above- and belowground ecosystem functioning is strongly supportive of using plant community characteristics as surrogates for assessing tundra carbon storage potential and its evolution under climate and vegetation changes. see all
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Series: |
Soil biology & biochemistry |
ISSN: | 0038-0717 |
ISSN-E: | 1879-3428 |
ISSN-L: | 0038-0717 |
Volume: | 165 |
Article number: | 108530 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108530 |
OADOI: | https://oadoi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108530 |
Type of Publication: |
A1 Journal article – refereed |
Field of Science: |
1183 Plant biology, microbiology, virology |
Subjects: | |
Funding: |
The study benefitted from internal CIRC funding for the use of the Abisko Scientific Research Station, kindly operated by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. K.G. was further supported by funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. PZ00P2_174047). |
Copyright information: |
© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |