Long‐term elevated precipitation induces grassland soil carbon loss via microbe‐plant–soil interplay

Global climate models predict that the frequency and intensity of precipitation events will increase in many regions across the world. However, the biosphere‐climate feedback to elevated precipitation (eP) remains elusive. Here, we report a study on one of the longest field experiments assessing the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Global change biology 2023-09, Vol.29 (18), p.5429-5444
Main Authors: Wang, Mengmeng, Sun, Xin, Cao, Baichuan, Chiariello, Nona R., Docherty, Kathryn M., Field, Christopher B., Gao, Qun, Gutknecht, Jessica L. M., Guo, Xue, He, Genhe, Hungate, Bruce A., Lei, Jiesi, Niboyet, Audrey, Le Roux, Xavier, Shi, Zhou, Shu, Wensheng, Yuan, Mengting, Zhou, Jizhong, Yang, Yunfeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Biodegradation
Biosphere
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
Chitin
Climate change
Climate models
Climate prediction
Community composition
Degradation
elevated precipitation
Environmental Sciences
Environmental stress
Feedback
Field tests
Genes
Global climate models
Grasslands
microbial functional trait
Microorganisms
Moisture effects
Phages
Phylogeny
Plant roots
Precipitation
Relative abundance
resource acquisition
Soil
soil carbon loss
Soil moisture
viral shunt
water‐limited ecosystems
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Summary:Global climate models predict that the frequency and intensity of precipitation events will increase in many regions across the world. However, the biosphere‐climate feedback to elevated precipitation (eP) remains elusive. Here, we report a study on one of the longest field experiments assessing the effects of eP, alone or in combination with other climate change drivers such as elevated CO2 (eCO2), warming and nitrogen deposition. Soil total carbon (C) decreased after a decade of eP treatment, while plant root production decreased after 2 years. To explain this asynchrony, we found that the relative abundances of fungal genes associated with chitin and protein degradation increased and were positively correlated with bacteriophage genes, suggesting a potential viral shunt in C degradation. In addition, eP increased the relative abundances of microbial stress tolerance genes, which are essential for coping with environmental stressors. Microbial responses to eP were phylogenetically conserved. The effects of eP on soil total C, root production, and microbes were interactively affected by eCO2. Collectively, we demonstrate that long‐term eP induces soil C loss, owing to changes in microbial community composition, functional traits, root production, and soil moisture. Our study unveils an important, previously unknown biosphere‐climate feedback in Mediterranean‐type water‐limited ecosystems, namely how eP induces soil C loss via microbe‐plant–soil interplay. Eco‐responses to long‐term elevated precipitation (eP), combined with other climate change factors, have not been well understood. This work, conducted in one of the longest eP experiments, unveils eco‐responses in a timescale of 14 years. Soil total carbon decreased after 9 years of eP treatment, while plant root production decreased after only 2 years since the experiment began. Changes in microbial taxonomic composition and functional traits of resource acquisition, viral shunt, and stress response contributed to explain this asynchrony. Our study unveils an important biosphere‐climate feedback via microbe‐plant–soil interplay in the Mediterranean grassland ecosystem, which has been overlooked so far.
ISSN:1354-1013
1365-2486
DOI:10.1111/gcb.16811