Woody litter protects peat carbon stocks during drought

Fenner, Nathalie; Freeman, Chris

doi:10.1038/s41558-020-0727-y

Cited by 72 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(107 reference statements)

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“…The dominance of the slow-growing microbes may explain why plant necromass does not completely decompose, but continues to accumulate as peat in low-latitude wooded peatlands, despite constant warming and frequent drought over millennia (6). This also further uncovers the observed slow decomposition under drought in the subtropical shrub peatlands (6), which was likely caused not only by the anti-microbe role of increased phenolics (6,35) but also the magnified slow-growing decomposers induced by higher phenolics. Collectively, our field and lab experiments demonstrate for the first time that a phenolics-linked plant-microbe interaction acts as a natural curb on carbon loss in low-latitude wooded peatlands and will likely also in future boreal peatlands with climate-induced shrub expansion.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…As we have shown the fast-growing microbes decomposed highly recalcitrant peat more quickly than the slow-growing microbes did ( Fig. 4), thus current fast-growing microbes in most boreal peatlands (29) could decompose stored carbon more quickly when temperature is higher, but the microbes in peat soil may gradually shift to slow-growing species with increasing phenolic contents through shrub expansion under climate change (5) or even by adding wood litter-a new appearing geoengineering in degraded peatlands (35). A recent study showed that the relative abundance of slow-growing fungi (Helotiales and Archaeorhizomyces) was over 80% in a Sphagnum peatlands where ericaceous shrubs dominated the wooded cover in Meadowlands, MN, USA (37), which shows that the on-going shrub expansion in some boreal peatlands have shifted in sync from fast-growing to slow-growing microbes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…As biotic regulators, the co-shifting microbe and plant communities that were initially triggered by climate change appear to exert dominant controls on ecosystem C cycling and soil C sequestration, thus ensuring for continuing peat accretion in the new state. Our findings may have more immediate applications in carbon-climate feedback models and geoengineering strategies(35,39). Embedding dynamic biotic factors into current abiotic-factordependent decay models could greatly advance the accuracy of the Earth System Models in projecting the fate of boreal peatlands with shifting plant/microbe communities (4, 5, 37) under climate change.…”

mentioning

confidence: 83%

“…of the dominant fungi (OTU relative abundance >1%) in Dajiuhu subtropical peatland in China (see Table S2 for ecological traits of the dominant fungi). similar to a natural state shift, preserving degraded peatlands not only in the short term through increasing phenolic contents (35) but also in the long term by encouraging phenolics-magnified, slow-growing microbes.…”

Section: Slow-growingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation and Microbes Interact to Preserve Organic Matter in Wooded Peatlands

Wang

Tian

Chen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Peatlands have persisted as massive carbon sinks over millennia, even during past periods of climate change. The commonly accepted theory of abiotic controls (mainly anoxia and low temperature) over carbon decomposition cannot explain how vast low-latitude wooded peatlands consistently accrete peat under warm and seasonally unsaturated conditions. Similarly, that theory cannot accurately project the decomposition rate in boreal peatlands where warming and drought have decreased Sphagnum and increased shrub expansion. Here, by comparing composition and ecological traits of microbes between Sphagnum-and shrub-dominated peatlands, we present a previously unrecognized natural course that curbs carbon loss against climate change. Slow-growing microbes decisively dominate the studied wooded peatlands, concomitant with plant-induced, high recalcitrant carbon and phenolics. The slow-growing microbes inherently metabolize organic matter slowly. However, the fast-growing microbes that dominate our Sphagnum site (most boreal peatlands as well) decomposed labile carbon >30 times faster than the slow-growing microbes. We show that the high-phenolic shrub/tree induced shifts in microbial composition may compensate for positive effects of temperature and/or drought on metabolism over time in peatlands. This biotic self-sustaining process that modulates abiotic controls on carbon cycling may help better project long-term climate-carbon feedbacks in peatlands.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 80%

mentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Slow-growingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vegetation and Microbes Interact to Preserve Organic Matter in Wooded Peatlands

Wang

Tian

Chen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Indeed, the effects of warming and drought on carbon cycling in peatlands have previously shown to largely depend on the vegetation (Ward et al 2013, Dieleman et al 2015, Rupp et al 2019. Moreover, Wang et al (2015) and Fenner & Freeman (2020) respectively propose a plant-controlled metabolomic and a biogeochemical mechanism that protects C loss during drought. Following the train of thought that progressive changes in enviro-climatological conditions cause shifts in the composition of plant communities (Robroek et al 2017), convergent shifts in the microbial community can be expected.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rewiring of peatland plant-microbe networks outpaces species turnover

Robroek

Martí

Svensson

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Enviro-climatological changes are thought to be causing alterations in ecosystem processes through shifts in plant and microbial communities. However, how links between plant and microbial communities change with enviro-climatological change is likely to be less straightforward, but may be fundamental for many ecological processes. To address this, we assessed the composition of the plant community and the prokaryotic community -using amplicon-based sequencing-of three European peatlands that were distinct in enviro-climatological conditions. Bipartite networks were used to construct site-specific plant-prokaryote co-occurrence networks. Our data show that between sites, plant and prokaryotic communities differ and that turnover in interactions between the communities was complex. Essentially, turnover in plant-microbial interactions is much faster than turnover in the respective communities. Our findings suggest that network rewiring does largely result from novel associations between species that are common and shared across the networks. Turnover in network composition is largely driven by novel interactions between a core community of plants and microorganisms. Taken together our results indicate that the functional role of species is context dependent, and that changes in enviro-climatological conditions will likely lead to network rewiring.Integrating turnover in plant-microbe interactions into studies that assess the impact of enviroclimatological change on peatland ecosystems is essential to understand ecosystem dynamics and must be combined with studies on the impact of these changes on ecosystem processes. Keywordsmicrobial and plant diversity, plant-microbe interactions, bipartite networks, 16SrRNA, 16S amplicon sequencing, peatlands.

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Biogeochemistry of Wetland Carbon Preservation and Flux

Neubauer

Megonigal

2021

Geophysical Monograph Series

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Woody litter protects peat carbon stocks during drought

Cited by 72 publications

References 45 publications

Vegetation and Microbes Interact to Preserve Organic Matter in Wooded Peatlands

Vegetation and Microbes Interact to Preserve Organic Matter in Wooded Peatlands

Rewiring of peatland plant-microbe networks outpaces species turnover

Biogeochemistry of Wetland Carbon Preservation and Flux

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