Investigating the long‐term legacy of drought and warming on the soil microbial community across five <scp>E</scp>uropean shrubland ecosystems

Rousk, Johannes; Smith, Andrew R.; Jones, Davey L.

doi:10.1111/gcb.12338

Cited by 111 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Variation in the ecological mechanisms underlying microbial responses to climate may explain why experimental manipulations do not consistently generate legacy effects (20,21). In our system, we argue that differential local microbial adaptation or prior species sorting combined with resistance to species turnover are at play, reflecting variation in local site climatic history.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

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Historical climate controls soil respiration responses to current soil moisture

Hawkes

Waring

Rocca

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

150

130

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Ecosystem carbon losses from soil microbial respiration are a key component of global carbon cycling, resulting in the transfer of 40–70 Pg carbon from soil to the atmosphere each year. Because these microbial processes can feed back to climate change, understanding respiration responses to environmental factors is necessary for improved projections. We focus on respiration responses to soil moisture, which remain unresolved in ecosystem models. A common assumption of large-scale models is that soil microorganisms respond to moisture in the same way, regardless of location or climate. Here, we show that soil respiration is constrained by historical climate. We find that historical rainfall controls both the moisture dependence and sensitivity of respiration. Moisture sensitivity, defined as the slope of respiration vs. moisture, increased fourfold across a 480-mm rainfall gradient, resulting in twofold greater carbon loss on average in historically wetter soils compared with historically drier soils. The respiration–moisture relationship was resistant to environmental change in field common gardens and field rainfall manipulations, supporting a persistent effect of historical climate on microbial respiration. Based on these results, predicting future carbon cycling with climate change will require an understanding of the spatial variation and temporal lags in microbial responses created by historical rainfall.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…For 12 mo, microcosms were incubated at 24°C in the dark and moisture treatments maintained within ±1% via weekly weighing. To measure CO 2 flux from soils, air samples were collected from the headspace of each microcosm at the initial setup and 1, 2, 3, 4,6,8,12,16,20,24, and 52 wk after the start of the incubation experiment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical climate controls soil respiration responses to current soil moisture

Hawkes

Waring

Rocca

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

150

130

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although some warming experiments have lasted over a decade (Dorrepaal et al, 2009;Melillo et al, 2011Melillo et al, , 2002Rousk et al, 2013), the majority have been shorter. Therefore, the long-term effects of field experimental warming on ecosystem functions have been challenging to examine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil microbes and their response to experimental warming over time: A meta-analysis of field studies

Romero‐Olivares

Allison

Treseder

2017

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

232

147

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Numerous field studies have found changes in soil respiration and microbial abundance under experimental warming. Yet, it is uncertain whether the magnitude of these responses remains consistent over the long-term. We performed a meta-analysis on 25 field experiments to examine how warming effects on soil respiration, microbial biomass, and soil microbial C respond to the duration of warming.For each parameter, we hypothesized that effect sizes of warming would diminish as the duration of warming increased. In support of our hypothesis, warming initially increased soil respiration, but the magnitude of this effect declined significantly as warming progressed as evidenced by the two longest studies in our meta-analysis. In fact, after 10 years of warming, soil respiration in warmed treatments was similar to controls. In contrast, warming effect sizes for fungal biomass, bacterial biomass, and soil microbial C did not respond significantly to the duration of warming. Microbial acclimation, community shifts, adaptation, or reductions in labile C may have ameliorated warming effects on soil respiration in the long-term. Accordingly, long-term soil C losses might be smaller than those suggested by short-term warming studies.

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“…Soils and the microbes that live in them regulate the carbon storage, nutrient cycling, and climate change mitigation [19]. Soil microbial biomass (SMB) is responsive to environmental changes [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

Welemariam

Kebede

Bedadi

et al. 2018

Chem. Biol. Technol. Agric.

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Background: Land degradation is a treat for natural resources in Tigray high lands of northern Ethiopia, where 30-50 percent of the soil productive capacity has been lost in the past 500 years. Restoration and management of degraded lands improve soil health through enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and microbial biomass carbon (MBC). The knowledge on SOC and MBC concentration and distribution is essential to refine soil management, thereby restoring the ecosystem. This paper quantified the effect of decades old community-based soil and water conservation (SWC) measures, mainly stone terraces, exclosure with and without stone terraces, and non-conserved communal grazing lands on the distribution of MBC and SOC stock.Methods: Soil sample collection was carried out using systematic sampling design. Transects parallel to each other and to the slope of the landscape were established. In each transect, three landscape positions (i.e., upper, middle, and foot slope) were formed. Composite soil samples were taken from four corners and center of 10 m × 10 m plot of each slope positions under the different SWC measures. Analysis of variance was used to determine the difference in SOC and MBC using SAS 9.2. Results:Total soil organic carbon concentration was significantly higher in exclosures as compared to terraces and non-conserved grazing lands. The highest mean value of SOC stock (29 Mg C ha ) was recorded in non-conserved communal grazing lands. Exclosures with terraces improved SOC stock by 64%, followed by exclosures without terraces by 37%, while terraces improved the SOC stock by 25% compared to non-conserved open communal grazing lands in the last 20 years. The upper (0-15 cm) soil depth had significantly (P < 0.05) higher (24 Mg C ha ). Microbial biomass carbon was the highest (640 mg kg −1 soil) in exclosures without terraces, followed by exclosures with terraces, (570 mg kg −1 soil), terraces (440 mg kg −1 soil), and non-conserved communal grazing lands (370 mg kg −1 soil). Conclusion:Exclosures supported with terraces improved and restored the SOC stock and microbial biomass carbon of degraded free grazing lands in the highlands.

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Investigating the long‐term legacy of drought and warming on the soil microbial community across five European shrubland ecosystems

Cited by 111 publications

References 89 publications

Historical climate controls soil respiration responses to current soil moisture

Historical climate controls soil respiration responses to current soil moisture

Soil microbes and their response to experimental warming over time: A meta-analysis of field studies

Exclosures backed up with community-based soil and water conservation practices increased soil organic carbon stock and microbial biomass carbon distribution, in the northern highlands of Ethiopia

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