Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

Ashish A. Malik; Jeremy Puissant; Kate M. Buckeridge; Tim Goodall; Nico Jehmlich; Somak Chowdhury; Hyun Soon Gweon; Jodey M. Peyton; Kelly E. Mason; Maaike van Agtmaal; Aimeric Blaud; Ian M. Clark; Jeanette Whitaker; Richard F. Pywell; Nick Ostle; Gerd Gleixner; Robert I. Griffiths

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1

Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

Ashish A. Malik^*, Jeremy Puissant, Kate M. Buckeridge, Tim Goodall, Nico Jehmlich, Somak Chowdhury, Hyun Soon Gweon, Jodey M. Peyton, Kelly E. Mason, Maaike van Agtmaal, Aimeric Blaud, Ian M. Clark, Jeanette Whitaker, Richard F. Pywell, Nick Ostle, Gerd Gleixner, Robert I. Griffiths

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aberdeen Centre For Environmental Sustainability

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Abstract

Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil–atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.

Original language	English
Article number	3591
Number of pages	10
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
Early online date	4 Sep 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1
Publication status	Published - 4 Sep 2018

Keywords

carbon cycle
ecosystem ecology
microbial ecology
soil microbiology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Malik, A. A., Puissant, J., Buckeridge, K. M., Goodall, T., Jehmlich, N., Chowdhury, S., Gweon, H. S., Peyton, J. M., Mason, K. E., van Agtmaal, M., Blaud, A., Clark, I. M., Whitaker, J., Pywell, R. F., Ostle, N., Gleixner, G., & Griffiths, R. I. (2018). Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes. Nature Communications, 9, [3591]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1

Malik, AA, Puissant, J, Buckeridge, KM, Goodall, T, Jehmlich, N, Chowdhury, S, Gweon, HS, Peyton, JM, Mason, KE, van Agtmaal, M, Blaud, A, Clark, IM, Whitaker, J, Pywell, RF, Ostle, N, Gleixner, G & Griffiths, RI 2018, 'Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes', Nature Communications, vol. 9, 3591. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05980-1

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title = "Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes",

abstract = "Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil–atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.",

keywords = "carbon cycle, ecosystem ecology, microbial ecology, soil microbiology",

author = "Malik, {Ashish A.} and Jeremy Puissant and Buckeridge, {Kate M.} and Tim Goodall and Nico Jehmlich and Somak Chowdhury and Gweon, {Hyun Soon} and Peyton, {Jodey M.} and Mason, {Kelly E.} and {van Agtmaal}, Maaike and Aimeric Blaud and Clark, {Ian M.} and Jeanette Whitaker and Pywell, {Richard F.} and Nick Ostle and Gerd Gleixner and Griffiths, {Robert I.}",

note = "A.A.M. has received funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska–Curie grant no. 655240 and all other UK-based authors were funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council under a Soil Security Programme grant (NE/M017125/1). We also acknowledge Kathleen Eismann for her help in sample preparation for metaproteomic analysis; Heiko Moossen, Petra Linke and Steffen Ruehlow for assistance with stable carbon isotope analyses and all the land owners who provided sampling access. The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information file, and from the corresponding author on request. The mass spectrometry proteomics data generated during the current study are available in the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD010526. ",

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AU - Malik, Ashish A.

AU - Puissant, Jeremy

AU - Buckeridge, Kate M.

AU - Goodall, Tim

AU - Jehmlich, Nico

AU - Chowdhury, Somak

AU - Gweon, Hyun Soon

AU - Peyton, Jodey M.

AU - Mason, Kelly E.

AU - van Agtmaal, Maaike

AU - Blaud, Aimeric

AU - Clark, Ian M.

AU - Whitaker, Jeanette

AU - Pywell, Richard F.

AU - Ostle, Nick

AU - Gleixner, Gerd

AU - Griffiths, Robert I.

N1 - A.A.M. has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie grant no. 655240 and all other UK-based authors were funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council under a Soil Security Programme grant (NE/M017125/1). We also acknowledge Kathleen Eismann for her help in sample preparation for metaproteomic analysis; Heiko Moossen, Petra Linke and Steffen Ruehlow for assistance with stable carbon isotope analyses and all the land owners who provided sampling access. The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Supplementary Information file, and from the corresponding author on request. The mass spectrometry proteomics data generated during the current study are available in the ProteomeXchange Consortium via the PRIDE partner repository with the dataset identifier PXD010526.

PY - 2018/9/4

Y1 - 2018/9/4

N2 - Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil–atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.

AB - Soil microorganisms act as gatekeepers for soil–atmosphere carbon exchange by balancing the accumulation and release of soil organic matter. However, poor understanding of the mechanisms responsible hinders the development of effective land management strategies to enhance soil carbon storage. Here we empirically test the link between microbial ecophysiological traits and topsoil carbon content across geographically distributed soils and land use contrasts. We discovered distinct pH controls on microbial mechanisms of carbon accumulation. Land use intensification in low-pH soils that increased the pH above a threshold (~6.2) leads to carbon loss through increased decomposition, following alleviation of acid retardation of microbial growth. However, loss of carbon with intensification in near-neutral pH soils was linked to decreased microbial biomass and reduced growth efficiency that was, in turn, related to trade-offs with stress alleviation and resource acquisition. Thus, less-intensive management practices in near-neutral pH soils have more potential for carbon storage through increased microbial growth efficiency, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.

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JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

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ER -

Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

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Ashish Malik

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Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes

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Ashish Malik

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