Rhizosphere carbon supply accelerates soil organic matter decomposition in the presence of fresh organic substrates

Plant and Soil - Root exudation is an important carbon (C) and energy source for soil microorganisms but quantifying its spatial distribution is challenging. We tested whether 14C imaging (analogue...     

Shrub expansion in the Arctic may induce large‐scale carbon losses due to changes in plant‐soil interactions

Background

Tall deciduous shrubs are increasing in range, size and cover across much of the Arctic, a process commonly assumed to increase carbon (C) storage. Major advances in remote sensing have increased our ability to monitor changes aboveground, improving quantification and understanding of arctic greening. However, the vast majority of C in the Arctic is stored in soils, where changes are more uncertain.

Scope

We present pilot data to argue that shrub expansion will cause changes in rhizosphere processes, including the development of new mycorrhizal associations that have the potential to promote soil C losses that substantially exceed C gains in plant biomass. However, current observations are limited in their spatial extent, and mechanistic understanding is still developing. Extending measurements across different regions and tundra types would greatly increase our ability to predict the biogeochemical consequences of arctic vegetation change, and we present a simple method that would allow such data to be collected.

Conclusions

Shrub expansion in the Arctic could promote substantial soil C losses that are unlikely to be offset by increases in plant biomass. However, confidence in this prediction is limited by a lack of information on how soil C stocks vary between contrasting Arctic vegetation communities; this needs to be addressed urgently.

     

Spatial patterns in soil organic matter dynamics are shaped by mycorrhizosphere interactions in a treeline forest

Aims

In the Swedish sub-Arctic, mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) forests mediate rapid soil C cycling relative to adjacent tundra heaths, but little is known about the role of individual trees within forests. Here we investigate the spatial extent over which trees influence soil processes.

Methods

We measured respiration, soil C stocks, root and mycorrhizal productivity and fungi:bacteria ratios at fine spatial scales along 3 m transects extending radially from mountain birch trees in a sub-Arctic ecotone forest. Root and mycorrhizal productivity was quantified using in-growth techniques and fungi:bacteria ratios were determined by qPCR.

Results

Neither respiration, nor root and mycorrhizal production, varied along transects. Fungi:bacteria ratios, soil organic C stocks and standing litter declined with increasing distance from trees.

Conclusions

As 3 m is half the average size of forest gaps, these findings suggest that forest soil environments are efficiently explored by roots and associated mycorrhizal networks of B. pubescens. Individual trees exert influence substantially away from their base, creating more uniform distributions of root, mycorrhizal and bacterial activity than expected. However, overall rates of soil C accumulation do vary with distance from trees, with potential implications for spatio-temporal soil organic matter dynamics and net ecosystem C sequestration.

     

Does the temperature sensitivity of decomposition of soil organic matter depend upon water content,soil horizon,or incubation time?

Several studies have shown multiple confounding factors influencing soil respiration in the field, which often hampers a correct separation and interpretation of the different environmental effects on respiration. Here, we present a controlled laboratory experiment on undisturbed organic and mineral soil cores separating the effects of temperature, drying–rewetting and decomposition dynamics on soil respiration. Specifically, we address the following questions:

• 1 Is the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration (Q₁₀) dependent on soil moisture or soil organic matter age (incubation time) and does it differ for organic and mineral soil as suggested by recent field studies.
• 2 How much do organic and mineral soil layers contribute to total soil respiration?
• 3 Is there potential to improve soil flux models of soil introducing a multilayer source model for soil respiration?

Eight organic soil and eight mineral soil cores were taken from a Norway spruce (Picea abies) stand in southern Germany, and incubated for 90 days in a climate chamber with a diurnal temperature regime between 7 and 23°C. Half of the samples were rewetted daily, while the other half were left to dry and rewetted thereafter. Soil respiration was measured with a continuously operating open dynamic soil respiration chamber system. The Q₁₀ was stable at around 2.7, independent of soil horizon and incubation time, decreasing only slightly when the soil dried. We suggest that recent findings of the Q₁₀ dependency on several factors are emergent properties at the ecosystem level, that should be analysed further e.g. with regard to rhizosphere effects. Most of the soil CO₂ efflux was released from the organic samples. Initially, it averaged 4.0 μmol m^?2 s^?1 and declined to 1.8 μmol m^?2 s^?1 at the end of the experiment. In terms of the third question, we show that models using only one temperature as predictor of soil respiration fail to explain more than 80% of the diurnal variability, are biased with a hysteresis effect, and slightly underestimate the temperature sensitivity of respiration. In contrast, consistently more than 95% of the diurnal variability is explained by a dual‐source model, with one CO₂ source related to the surface temperature and another CO₂ source related to the central temperature, highlighting the role of soil surface processes for ecosystem carbon balances.     

A field-compatible method for measuring alternative respiratory pathway activities in vivo using stable O₂ isotopes

Plants can alter rates of electron transport through the alternative oxidase (AOX) pathway in response to environmental cues, thus modulating respiratory efficiency, but the (18)O discrimination method necessary for measuring electron partitioning in vivo has been restricted to laboratory settings. To overcome this limitation, we developed a field-compatible analytical method. Series of plant tissue subsamples were incubated in 12 mL septum-capped vials for 0.5-4 h before aliquots of incubation air were injected into 3.7 mL evacuated storage vials. Vials were stored for up to 10 months before analysis by mass spectrometry. Measurements were corrected for unavoidable contamination. Additional mathematical tools were developed for detecting and addressing non-linearity (whether intrinsic or due to contamination) in the data used to estimate discrimination values. Initial contamination in the storage vials was 0.03 ± 0.01 atm; storing the gas samples at -17 °C eliminated further contamination effects over 10 months. Discrimination values obtained using our offline incubation and computation method replicated previously reported results over a range of 10-31‰, with precision generally better than ±0.5‰. Our method enables large-scale investigations of plant alternative respiration along natural environmental gradients under field conditions.     

Slowed Biogeochemical Cycling in Sub-arctic Birch Forest Linked to Reduced Mycorrhizal Growth and Community Change after a Defoliation Event

Sub-arctic birch forests (Betula pubescens Ehrh. ssp. czerepanovii) periodically suffer large-scale defoliation events caused by the caterpillars of the geometrid moths Epirrita autumnata and Operophtera brumata. Despite their obvious influence on ecosystem primary productivity, little is known about how the associated reduction in belowground C allocation affects soil processes. We quantified the soil response following a natural defoliation event in sub-arctic Sweden by measuring soil respiration, nitrogen availability and ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) hyphal production and root tip community composition. There was a reduction in soil respiration and an accumulation of soil inorganic N in defoliated plots, symptomatic of a slowdown of soil processes. This coincided with a reduction of EMF hyphal production and a shift in the EMF community to lower autotrophic C-demanding lineages (for example, /russula-lactarius). We show that microbial and nutrient cycling processes shift to a slower, less C-demanding state in response to canopy defoliation. We speculate that, amongst other factors, a reduction in the potential of EMF biomass to immobilise excess mineral nitrogen resulted in its build-up in the soil. These defoliation events are becoming more geographically widespread with climate warming, and could result in a fundamental shift in sub-arctic ecosystem processes and properties. EMF fungi may be important in mediating the response of soil cycles to defoliation and their role merits further investigation.     

Fast assimilate turnover revealed by in situ 13CO2 pulse-labelling in Subarctic tundra

Climatic changes in Arctic regions are likely to have significant impacts on vegetation composition and physiological responses of different plant types, with implications for the regional carbon (C) cycle. Here, we explore differences in allocation and turnover of assimilated C in two Subarctic tundra communities. We used an in situ ¹³C pulse at mid-summer in Swedish Lapland to investigate C allocation and turnover in four contrasting tundra plant communities. We found a high rate of turnover of assimilated C in leaf tissues of Betula nana and graminoid vegetation at the height of the growing season, with a mean residence time of pulse-derived ¹³C of 1.1 and 0.7?days, respectively. One week after the pulse, c. 20 and 15%, respectively, of assimilated label-C remained in leaf biomass, representing most likely allocation to structural biomass. For the perennial leaf tissue of the graminoid communities, a remainder of approximately 5% of the pulse-derived C was still traceable after 1?year, whereas none was detectable in Betula foliage. The results indicate a relatively fast C turnover and small belowground allocation during the active growing season of recent assimilates in graminoid communities, with comparatively slower turnover and greater investment in belowground allocation by B. nana vegetation.