Articles | Volume 7, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-477-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-477-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
02 Aug 2021
Original research article |
| 02 Aug 2021
| 02 Aug 2021
Whole-soil warming decreases abundance and modifies the community structure of microorganisms in the subsoil but not in surface soil
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Nicholas O. E. Ofiti
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Jennifer L. Soong
Climate and Ecosystem Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Emily F. Solly
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
currently at: Group for Sustainable Agroecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Margaret S. Torn
Climate and Ecosystem Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
Arnaud Huguet
Sorbonne Université, CNRS, EPHE, PSL, UMR METIS, Paris, France
Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Michael W. I. Schmidt
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Related authors
Mike C. Rowley, Jasquelin Pena, Matthew A. Marcus, Rachel Porras, Elaine Pegoraro, Cyrill Zosso, Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Margaret S. Torn, and Peter S. Nico
SOIL, 11, 381–388, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that calcium (Ca) preserves soil organic carbon (SOC) in acidic soils, challenging beliefs that their interactions were limited to near-neutral or alkaline soils. Using spectromicroscopy, we found that Ca was co-located with a specific fraction of carbon, rich in aromatic and phenolic groups. This association was disrupted when Ca was removed but was reformed during decomposition with added Ca. Overall, this suggests that Ca amendments could enhance SOC stability.
Binyan Sun, Cyrill U. Zosso, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Elaine Pegoraro, Margaret S. Torn, and Michael W. I. Schmidt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-299, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-299, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
Short summary
Short summary
To understand how warming will change the dynamics of roots across soil profile, we took usage of a long-term field warming experiment and incubated 13C-labelled roots at three different depths. After 3 years of incubation, warming only accelerate the decomposition of root in topsoil (< 20 cm) but not in subsoil (> 20 cm). Hydrolysable lipids derived from root, which are considered as recalcitrant compounds and could be preserved for long time in the soil, are also decomposed faster in topsoil.
Mike C. Rowley, Jasquelin Pena, Matthew A. Marcus, Rachel Porras, Elaine Pegoraro, Cyrill Zosso, Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Margaret S. Torn, and Peter S. Nico
SOIL, 11, 381–388, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-381-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that calcium (Ca) preserves soil organic carbon (SOC) in acidic soils, challenging beliefs that their interactions were limited to near-neutral or alkaline soils. Using spectromicroscopy, we found that Ca was co-located with a specific fraction of carbon, rich in aromatic and phenolic groups. This association was disrupted when Ca was removed but was reformed during decomposition with added Ca. Overall, this suggests that Ca amendments could enhance SOC stability.
Dario Püntener, Tatjana Carina Speckert, Yves-Alain Brügger, and Guido Lars Bruno Wiesenberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1546, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1546, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
Short summary
Short summary
Alpine soils store much carbon but warming and changes in vegetation could reverse this by turning them into carbon sources. In a one-year laboratory study, we examined alpine forest and pasture soils and added fresh grass litter marked with a carbon tracer to track decomposition under different temperatures. Our findings reveal that fresh plant material drives soil breakdown more than temperature alone, offering new insights into how climate change may affect carbon storage in mountain regions.
Peter K. Bijl, Kasia K. Sliwinska, Bella Duncan, Arnaud Huguet, Sebastian Naeher, Ronnakrit Rattanasriampaipong, Claudia Sosa-Montes de Oca, Alexandra Auderset, Melissa Berke, Bum Soo Kim, Nina Davtian, Tom Dunkley Jones, Desmond Eefting, Felix Elling, Lauren O'Connor, Richard D. Pancost, Francien Peterse, Fenies Pierrick, Addison Rice, Appy Sluijs, Devika Varma, Wenjie Xiao, and Yige Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1467, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1467, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
Many academic laboratories worldwide process environmental samples for analysis of membrane lipid molecules of archaea, for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions. However, the sample workup scheme involves many steps, each of which has a risk of contamination or bias, affecting the results. This paper reviews steps involved in sampling, extraction and analysis of lipids, interpretation and archiving of the data. This ensures reproducable, reusable, comparable and consistent data.
Hirofumi Hashimoto, Weile Wang, Taejin Park, Sepideh Khajehei, Kazuhito Ichii, Andrew Michaelis, Alberto Guzman, Ramakrishna Nemani, Margaret Torn, Koong Yi, and Ian Brosnan
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-33, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Short summary
We create the GeoNEX Coincident Ground Observations dataset (GeCGO) by extracting point data at observational network sites across Americas from the gridded GeoNEX products. The GeoNEX dataset is the high temporal frequent dataset of the latest geostationary satellites observations. We also release the software, GeoNEXTools, that helps handling the GeCGO data. GeCGO data and GeoNEXTools could help scientists use geostationary satellite data at their interested ground observational sites.
Binyan Sun, Cyrill U. Zosso, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Elaine Pegoraro, Margaret S. Torn, and Michael W. I. Schmidt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-299, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-299, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for SOIL (SOIL).
Short summary
Short summary
To understand how warming will change the dynamics of roots across soil profile, we took usage of a long-term field warming experiment and incubated 13C-labelled roots at three different depths. After 3 years of incubation, warming only accelerate the decomposition of root in topsoil (< 20 cm) but not in subsoil (> 20 cm). Hydrolysable lipids derived from root, which are considered as recalcitrant compounds and could be preserved for long time in the soil, are also decomposed faster in topsoil.
Lucia Fuchslueger, Emily Francesca Solly, Alberto Canarini, and Albert Carles Brangarí
Biogeosciences, 21, 3959–3964, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3959-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3959-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This overview of the special issue “Global change effects on terrestrial biogeochemistry at the plant–soil interface” features empirical, conceptual and modelling-based studies and outlines key findings on plant responses to elevated CO2; soil organism responses to warming; impacts on soil organic carbon, nitrogen and mineral nutrient cycling; and water level changes affecting greenhouse gas emissions, from the Arctic to the tropics, which are crucial for deciphering feedbacks to global change.
Zhe-Xuan Zhang, Edith Parlanti, Christelle Anquetil, Jérôme Morelle, Anniet M. Laverman, Alexandre Thibault, Elisa Bou, and Arnaud Huguet
Biogeosciences, 21, 2227–2252, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2227-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2227-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Bacterial tetraethers have important implications for palaeoclimate reconstruction. However, fundamental understanding of how these lipids are transformed from land to sea and which environmental factors influence their distributions is lacking. Here, we investigate the sources of brGDGTs and brGMGTs and the factors controlling their distributions in a large dataset (n=237). We propose a novel proxy (RIX) to trace riverine runoff, which is applicable in modern systems and in paleorecord.
Tatjana Carina Speckert, Arnaud Huguet, and Guido Lars Bruno Wiesenberg
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-870, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-870, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Afforestation on former pasture and its potential implication on the soil microbial community structure remains still an open question, particularly in mountainous regions. We investigate the effect of afforestation on a subalpine pasture on the soil microbial community structure by combining the analysis of PLFA and GDGTs. We found differences in the microbial community structure with evidence of increasing decomposition of soil organic matter due to the alteration in substrate quality.
Huimin Sun, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Jintao Li, Jinquan Li, Xiang Liu, Nicholas O. E. Ofiti, Shurong Zhou, and Ming Nie
Biogeosciences, 21, 575–589, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-575-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-575-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A soil organic carbon (SOC) molecular structure suggested that the easily decomposable and stabilized SOC is similarly affected after 9-year warming and N treatments despite large changes in SOC stocks. Given the long residence time of some SOC, the similar loss of all measurable chemical forms of SOC under global change treatments could have important climate consequences.
Carrie L. Thomas, Boris Jansen, Sambor Czerwiński, Mariusz Gałka, Klaus-Holger Knorr, E. Emiel van Loon, Markus Egli, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
Biogeosciences, 20, 4893–4914, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4893-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-4893-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Peatlands are vital terrestrial ecosystems that can serve as archives, preserving records of past vegetation and climate. We reconstructed the vegetation history over the last 2600 years of the Beerberg peatland and surrounding area in the Thuringian Forest in Germany using multiple analyses. We found that, although the forest composition transitioned and human influence increased, the peatland remained relatively stable until more recent times, when drainage and dust deposition had an impact.
Tatjana C. Speckert, Jeannine Suremann, Konstantin Gavazov, Maria J. Santos, Frank Hagedorn, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 9, 609–621, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-609-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is key player in the global carbon cycle. Afforestation on pastures potentially alters organic matter input and SOC sequestration. We investigated the effects of a Picea abies L. afforestation sequence (0 to 130 years) on a former subalpine pasture on SOC stocks and dynamics. We found no difference in the SOC stock after 130 years of afforestation and thus no additional SOC sequestration. SOC composition was altered due to a modified SOC input following afforestation.
Niel Verbrigghe, Niki I. W. Leblans, Bjarni D. Sigurdsson, Sara Vicca, Chao Fang, Lucia Fuchslueger, Jennifer L. Soong, James T. Weedon, Christopher Poeplau, Cristina Ariza-Carricondo, Michael Bahn, Bertrand Guenet, Per Gundersen, Gunnhildur E. Gunnarsdóttir, Thomas Kätterer, Zhanfeng Liu, Marja Maljanen, Sara Marañón-Jiménez, Kathiravan Meeran, Edda S. Oddsdóttir, Ivika Ostonen, Josep Peñuelas, Andreas Richter, Jordi Sardans, Páll Sigurðsson, Margaret S. Torn, Peter M. Van Bodegom, Erik Verbruggen, Tom W. N. Walker, Håkan Wallander, and Ivan A. Janssens
Biogeosciences, 19, 3381–3393, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3381-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-3381-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In subarctic grassland on a geothermal warming gradient, we found large reductions in topsoil carbon stocks, with carbon stocks linearly declining with warming intensity. Most importantly, however, we observed that soil carbon stocks stabilised within 5 years of warming and remained unaffected by warming thereafter, even after > 50 years of warming. Moreover, in contrast to the large topsoil carbon losses, subsoil carbon stocks remained unaffected after > 50 years of soil warming.
Carrie L. Thomas, Boris Jansen, E. Emiel van Loon, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 7, 785–809, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-785-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Plant organs, such as leaves, contain a variety of chemicals that are eventually deposited into soil and can be useful for studying organic carbon cycling. We performed a systematic review of available data of one type of plant-derived chemical, n-alkanes, to determine patterns of degradation or preservation from the source plant to the soil. We found that while there was degradation in the amount of n-alkanes from plant to soil, some aspects of the chemical signature were preserved.
Kyle B. Delwiche, Sara Helen Knox, Avni Malhotra, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Gavin McNicol, Sarah Feron, Zutao Ouyang, Dario Papale, Carlo Trotta, Eleonora Canfora, You-Wei Cheah, Danielle Christianson, Ma. Carmelita R. Alberto, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, Dennis Baldocchi, Sheel Bansal, David P. Billesbach, Gil Bohrer, Rosvel Bracho, Nina Buchmann, David I. Campbell, Gerardo Celis, Jiquan Chen, Weinan Chen, Housen Chu, Higo J. Dalmagro, Sigrid Dengel, Ankur R. Desai, Matteo Detto, Han Dolman, Elke Eichelmann, Eugenie Euskirchen, Daniela Famulari, Kathrin Fuchs, Mathias Goeckede, Sébastien Gogo, Mangaliso J. Gondwe, Jordan P. Goodrich, Pia Gottschalk, Scott L. Graham, Martin Heimann, Manuel Helbig, Carole Helfter, Kyle S. Hemes, Takashi Hirano, David Hollinger, Lukas Hörtnagl, Hiroki Iwata, Adrien Jacotot, Gerald Jurasinski, Minseok Kang, Kuno Kasak, John King, Janina Klatt, Franziska Koebsch, Ken W. Krauss, Derrick Y. F. Lai, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Luca Belelli Marchesini, Giovanni Manca, Jaclyn Hatala Matthes, Trofim Maximov, Lutz Merbold, Bhaskar Mitra, Timothy H. Morin, Eiko Nemitz, Mats B. Nilsson, Shuli Niu, Walter C. Oechel, Patricia Y. Oikawa, Keisuke Ono, Matthias Peichl, Olli Peltola, Michele L. Reba, Andrew D. Richardson, William Riley, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Youngryel Ryu, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Camilo Rey Sanchez, Edward A. Schuur, Karina V. R. Schäfer, Oliver Sonnentag, Jed P. Sparks, Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens, Cove Sturtevant, Ryan C. Sullivan, Daphne J. Szutu, Jonathan E. Thom, Margaret S. Torn, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Jessica Turner, Masahito Ueyama, Alex C. Valach, Rodrigo Vargas, Andrej Varlagin, Alma Vazquez-Lule, Joseph G. Verfaillie, Timo Vesala, George L. Vourlitis, Eric J. Ward, Christian Wille, Georg Wohlfahrt, Guan Xhuan Wong, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, and Robert B. Jackson
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3607–3689, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3607-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3607-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is an important greenhouse gas, yet we lack knowledge about its global emissions and drivers. We present FLUXNET-CH4, a new global collection of methane measurements and a critical resource for the research community. We use FLUXNET-CH4 data to quantify the seasonality of methane emissions from freshwater wetlands, finding that methane seasonality varies strongly with latitude. Our new database and analysis will improve wetland model accuracy and inform greenhouse gas budgets.
Pierre Véquaud, Sylvie Derenne, Alexandre Thibault, Christelle Anquetil, Giuliano Bonanomi, Sylvie Collin, Sergio Contreras, Andrew T. Nottingham, Pierre Sabatier, Norma Salinas, Wesley P. Scott, Josef P. Werne, and Arnaud Huguet
Biogeosciences, 18, 3937–3959, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3937-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3937-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A better understanding of past climate variations is essential to apprehend future climatic changes. The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of specific organic compounds of bacterial origin, 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs), as temperature and pH proxies at the global level using an extended soil dataset. We show the major potential of 3-OH FAs as such proxies in terrestrial environments through the different models presented and their application for palaeoreconstruction.
Caitlin Hicks Pries, Alon Angert, Cristina Castanha, Boaz Hilman, and Margaret S. Torn
Biogeosciences, 17, 3045–3055, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3045-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-3045-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The apparent respiration quotient (ARQ) changes according to which substrates microbes consume, allowing sources of soil respiration to be traced. In a forest soil warming experiment, ARQ had a strong seasonal pattern that reflected a shift from respiration being fueled by sugars and organic acids derived from roots during the growing season to respiration being fueled by dead microbes during winter. ARQ values also changed with experimental warming.
Pranav Hirave, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Axel Birkholz, and Christine Alewell
Biogeosciences, 17, 2169–2180, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2169-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2169-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Sediment input into water bodies is a prominent threat to freshwater ecosystems. We tested the stability of tracers employed in freshwater sediment tracing based on compound-specific isotope analysis during early degradation in soil. While bulk δ13C values showed no stability, δ13C values of plant-derived fatty acids and n-alkanes were stably transferred to the soil without soil particle size dependency after an early degradation in organic horizons, thus indicating their suitability as tracers.
Corey R. Lawrence, Jeffrey Beem-Miller, Alison M. Hoyt, Grey Monroe, Carlos A. Sierra, Shane Stoner, Katherine Heckman, Joseph C. Blankinship, Susan E. Crow, Gavin McNicol, Susan Trumbore, Paul A. Levine, Olga Vindušková, Katherine Todd-Brown, Craig Rasmussen, Caitlin E. Hicks Pries, Christina Schädel, Karis McFarlane, Sebastian Doetterl, Christine Hatté, Yujie He, Claire Treat, Jennifer W. Harden, Margaret S. Torn, Cristian Estop-Aragonés, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Marco Keiluweit, Ágatha Della Rosa Kuhnen, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Alain F. Plante, Aaron Thompson, Zheng Shi, Joshua P. Schimel, Lydia J. S. Vaughn, Sophie F. von Fromm, and Rota Wagai
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 61–76, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-61-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-61-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The International Soil Radiocarbon Database (ISRaD) is an an open-source archive of soil data focused on datasets including radiocarbon measurements. ISRaD includes data from bulk or
whole soils, distinct soil carbon pools isolated in the laboratory by a variety of soil fractionation methods, samples of soil gas or water collected interstitially from within an intact soil profile, CO2 gas isolated from laboratory soil incubations, and fluxes collected in situ from a soil surface.
Marlène Lavrieux, Axel Birkholz, Katrin Meusburger, Guido L. B. Wiesenberg, Adrian Gilli, Christian Stamm, and Christine Alewell
Biogeosciences, 16, 2131–2146, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2131-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-2131-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A fingerprinting approach using compound-specific stable isotopes was applied to a lake sediment core to reconstruct erosion processes over the past 150 years in a Swiss catchment. Even though the reconstruction of land use and eutrophication history was successful, the observation of comparatively low δ13C values of plant-derived fatty acids in the sediment suggests their alteration within the lake. Thus, their use as a tool for source attribution in sediment cores needs further investigation.
Emily F. Solly, Valentino Weber, Stephan Zimmermann, Lorenz Walthert, Frank Hagedorn, and Michael W. I. Schmidt
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2019-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2019-33, 2019
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Soils are the largest reservoir of carbon on land. In the context of global change, it is important to assess which environmental variables are needed to describe changes in the content of soil organic carbon. We assessed how climatic, vegetation and edaphic variables explain the variance of soil organic carbon content in Swiss forests. Our results provide a first indication that considering the effective cation exchange capacity of soils in future biogeochemical simulations could be beneficial.
Lydia J. S. Vaughn and Margaret S. Torn
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 10, 1943–1957, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1943-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-1943-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper discusses radiocarbon in CO2 and soil organic carbon from Arctic Alaska. From soil chamber measurements, we observed strong seasonal and spatial patterns in 14C of ecosystem respiration, which declined throughout the summer and differed among permafrost features. Radiocarbon in pore-space CO2 indicated decomposition of carbon as old as 3000 years near the permafrost table. Together, these data reveal different rates of old carbon decomposition from distinct permafrost features.
Boris Jansen and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 3, 211–234, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-3-211-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-3-211-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The application of lipids in soils as molecular proxies, also often referred to as biomarkers, has dramatically increased in the last decades. Applications range from inferring changes in past vegetation composition to unraveling the turnover of soil organic matter. However, the application of soil lipids as molecular proxies comes with several constraining factors. Here we provide a critical review of the current state of knowledge on the applicability of molecular proxies in soil science.
Yaqiong Lu, Ian N. Williams, Justin E. Bagley, Margaret S. Torn, and Lara M. Kueppers
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 1873–1888, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-1873-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-1873-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Predicting winter wheat growth in the future climate scenarios is crucial for food security. We developed a winter wheat model in the Community Land Model to better predict winter wheat growth and grain production at multiple temporal and spatial scales. We validated the model and found that the new winter wheat model improved the prediction of winter wheat growth related variables during the spring growing season but underestimated yield in regions with historically greater yields.
Martina I. Gocke, Fabian Kessler, Jan M. van Mourik, Boris Jansen, and Guido L. B. Wiesenberg
SOIL, 2, 537–549, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-537-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-537-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Investigation of a Dutch sandy profile demonstrated that buried soils provide beneficial growth conditions for plant roots in terms of nutrients. The intense exploitation of deep parts of the soil profile, including subsoil and soil parent material, by roots of the modern vegetation is often underestimated by traditional approaches. Potential consequences of deep rooting for terrestrial carbon stocks, located to a relevant part in buried soils, remain largely unknown and require further studies.
Xiyan Xu, William J. Riley, Charles D. Koven, Dave P. Billesbach, Rachel Y.-W. Chang, Róisín Commane, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Sean Hartery, Yoshinobu Harazono, Hiroki Iwata, Kyle C. McDonald, Charles E. Miller, Walter C. Oechel, Benjamin Poulter, Naama Raz-Yaseef, Colm Sweeney, Margaret Torn, Steven C. Wofsy, Zhen Zhang, and Donatella Zona
Biogeosciences, 13, 5043–5056, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Wetlands are the largest global natural methane source. Peat-rich bogs and fens lying between 50°N and 70°N contribute 10–30% to this source. The predictive capability of the seasonal methane cycle can directly affect the estimation of global methane budget. We present multiscale methane seasonal emission by observations and modeling and find that the uncertainties in predicting the seasonal methane emissions are from the wetland extent, cold-season CH4 production and CH4 transport processes.
M. S. Torn, A. Chabbi, P. Crill, P. J. Hanson, I. A. Janssens, Y. Luo, C. H. Pries, C. Rumpel, M. W. I. Schmidt, J. Six, M. Schrumpf, and B. Zhu
SOIL, 1, 575–582, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, 2015
M. Rinderer, H. C. Komakech, D. Müller, G. L. B. Wiesenberg, and J. Seibert
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 3505–3516, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3505-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-19-3505-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
A field method for assessing soil moisture in semi-arid conditions is proposed and tested in terms of inter-rater reliability with 40 Tanzanian farmers, students and experts. The seven wetness classes are based on qualitative indicators that one can see, feel or hear. It could be shown that the qualitative wetness classes reflect differences in volumetric water content and neither experience nor a certain level of education was a prerequisite to gain high agreement among raters.
B. Maestrini, S. Abiven, N. Singh, J. Bird, M. S. Torn, and M. W. I. Schmidt
Biogeosciences, 11, 5199–5213, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-5199-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-5199-2014, 2014
W. J. Riley, F. Maggi, M. Kleber, M. S. Torn, J. Y. Tang, D. Dwivedi, and N. Guerry
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1335–1355, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1335-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1335-2014, 2014
I. N. Williams, W. J. Riley, M. S. Torn, S. C. Biraud, and M. L. Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1571–1585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1571-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1571-2014, 2014
M. S. Torn, M. Kleber, E. S. Zavaleta, B. Zhu, C. B. Field, and S. E. Trumbore
Biogeosciences, 10, 8067–8081, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-8067-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-8067-2013, 2013
C. D. Koven, W. J. Riley, Z. M. Subin, J. Y. Tang, M. S. Torn, W. D. Collins, G. B. Bonan, D. M. Lawrence, and S. C. Swenson
Biogeosciences, 10, 7109–7131, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7109-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-10-7109-2013, 2013
S. Basu, S. Guerlet, A. Butz, S. Houweling, O. Hasekamp, I. Aben, P. Krummel, P. Steele, R. Langenfelds, M. Torn, S. Biraud, B. Stephens, A. Andrews, and D. Worthy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8695–8717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8695-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8695-2013, 2013
S. C. Biraud, M. S. Torn, J. R. Smith, C. Sweeney, W. J. Riley, and P. P. Tans
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 751–763, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-751-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-751-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Soils and global change
Missing the input: the underrepresentation of plant physiology in global soil carbon research
Large errors in soil carbon measurements attributed to inconsistent sample processing
Research at the interface between Indigenous knowledge and soil science; weaving knowledges to understand horticultural land use in Aotearoa New Zealand
Soil is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and climate change
Impact of crop type on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a rewetted cultivated peatland
Managing Soil Nitrogen Surplus: The Role of Winter Cover Crops in N2O Emissions and Carbon Sequestration
Measurement of greenhouse gas fluxes in agricultural soils with a flexible, open-design automated system
Thermodynamic and hydrological drivers of the soil and bedrock thermal regimes in central Spain
The effect of different biopreparations on soil physical properties and CO2 emissions when growing winter wheat and oilseed rape
Earthworm-invaded boreal forest soils harbour distinct microbial communities
Back to the future? Conservative grassland management can preserve soil health in the changing landscapes of Uruguay
Effects of a warmer climate and forest composition on soil carbon cycling, soil organic matter stability and stocks in a humid boreal region
Effects of mild alternate wetting and drying irrigation and rice straw application on N2O emissions in rice cultivation
Short- and long-term temperature responses of soil denitrifier net N2O efflux rates, inter-profile N2O dynamics, and microbial genetic potentials
Acute glyphosate exposure does not condition the response of microbial communities to a dry–rewetting disturbance in a soil with a long history of glyphosate-based herbicides
Depletion of soil carbon and aggregation after strong warming of a subarctic Andosol under forest and grassland cover
Effect of deforestation and subsequent land use management on soil carbon stocks in the South American Chaco
The effects of worms, clay and biochar on CO2 emissions during production and soil application of co-composts
Climate and soil factors influencing seedling recruitment of plant species used for dryland restoration
A call for international soil experiment networks for studying, predicting, and managing global change impacts
Global distribution of soil organic carbon – Part 2: Certainty of changes related to land use and climate
The economics of soil C sequestration and agricultural emissions abatement
Sajjad Raza, Hannah V. Cooper, Nicholas T. Girkin, Matthew S. Kent, Malcolm J. Bennett, Sacha J. Mooney, and Tino Colombi
SOIL, 11, 363–369, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-363-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-363-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Plant physiology has been addressed by less than 10 % of peer-reviewed soil organic carbon research published in the last century. Thus, our understanding of soil carbon dynamics is overwhelmingly built on research that neglects the fundamental processes underlying organic carbon inputs. Active engagement of plant scientists in soil carbon research is imperative for shedding light on this blind spot and developing holistic policies that support soil carbon sequestration.
Rebecca J. Even, Megan B. Machmuller, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Tamara J. Zelikova, and M. Francesca Cotrufo
SOIL, 11, 17–34, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-17-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-17-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We conducted a service soil laboratory comparison study and tested the individual effect of common sieving, grinding, drying, and quantification methods on total, inorganic, and organic soil carbon (C) measurements. We found that inter-lab variability is large and each soil processing step impacts C measurement accuracy and/or precision. Standardizing soil processing methods is needed to ensure C measurements are accurate and precise, especially for C credit allocation and model calibration.
Julie Gillespie, Matiu Payne, Dione Payne, Sarah Edwards, Dyanna Jolly, Carol Smith, and Jo-Anne Cavanagh
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3546, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3546, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Addressing soil health and food security challenges requires weaving different ways of knowing. This paper presents a case study from New Zealand, showing how combining soil science with mātauraka Māori (Māori knowledge) helps reveal past food growing practices, guiding efforts to restore traditional horticulture and enhance Māori soil health. This study also offers a practical example of integrating knowledge systems to tackle complex environmental issues in real-world contexts.
Peter M. Kopittke, Ram C. Dalal, Brigid A. McKenna, Pete Smith, Peng Wang, Zhe Weng, Frederik J. T. van der Bom, and Neal W. Menzies
SOIL, 10, 873–885, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-873-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-873-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Soil produces 98.8 % of the calories consumed by humans, but the contribution that the anthropogenic use of soil makes to global warming is not clear. We show that soil has contributed 15 % of the total global warming caused by well-mixed greenhouse gases. Thus, our finding that soil is a substantial contributor to global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions represents a "wicked problem" – how do we continue to increase food production from soil whilst also decreasing emissions?
Kristiina Lång, Henri Honkanen, Jaakko Heikkinen, Sanna Saarnio, Tuula Larmola, and Hanna Kekkonen
SOIL, 10, 827–841, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied greenhouse (GHG) gas fluxes at an agricultural peat soil site with willow, forage and set-aside. The mean annual water table rose from 80 to 30 cm in 2019–2022. Raising the water table slowed down annual CO2 emissions. CH4 fluxes changed from uptake to emissions, and nitrous oxide emissions decreased towards the end of the experiment. The total greenhouse gas balance was relatively high, highlighting the challenge in mitigating emissions from cultivated peatlands.
Victoria Nasser, René Dechow, Mirjam Helfrich, Ana Meijide, Pauline Sophie Rummel, Heinz-Josef Koch, Reiner Ruser, Lisa Essich, and Klaus Dittert
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2849, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2849, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluated the impact of diverse cover crops on topsoil mineral nitrogen (SMN), N2O emissions, and carbon (C) sequestration. Non-legume cover crops reduced SMN levels, showed potential for mitigating indirect N2O emissions, and increased C sequestration, but did not significantly reduce cumulative N2O emissions compared to fallow. The results highlight the need for tailored cover crop strategies to balance SMN capture, N2O emissions, and C sequestration effectively.
Samuel Franco-Luesma, María Alonso-Ayuso, Benjamin Wolf, Borja Latorre, and Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-804, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-804, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Agriculture may have a significant role on the climate change mitigation. For that reason, it is necessary to have good estimation of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from the agricultural activities. In this work, two different chamber systems to determine GHG were compared. Our results highlighted that automated chamber systems, compared to manual chamber systems, are a powerful tool for quantifying GHG fluxes, allowing to capture the large temporal variability that characterizes them.
Félix García-Pereira, Jesús Fidel González-Rouco, Thomas Schmid, Camilo Melo-Aguilar, Cristina Vegas-Cañas, Norman Julius Steinert, Pedro José Roldán-Gómez, Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Almudena García-García, Hugo Beltrami, and Philipp de Vrese
SOIL, 10, 1–21, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-1-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work addresses air–ground temperature coupling and propagation into the subsurface in a mountainous area in central Spain using surface and subsurface data from six meteorological stations. Heat transfer of temperature changes at the ground surface occurs mainly by conduction controlled by thermal diffusivity of the subsurface, which varies with depth and time. A new methodology shows that near-surface diffusivity and soil moisture content changes with time are closely related.
Sidona Buragienė, Egidijus Šarauskis, Aida Adamavičienė, Kęstutis Romaneckas, Kristina Lekavičienė, Daiva Rimkuvienė, and Vilma Naujokienė
SOIL, 9, 593–608, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-593-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-593-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different biopreparations on soil porosity, temperature, and CO2 emission from the soil in northeast Europe (Lithuania) when growing food-type crops. The application of the biopreparations showed a cumulative effect on the soil properties. In the third year of the study, the total porosity of the soil was higher in all scenarios compared to the control, ranging between 51% and 74%.
Justine Lejoly, Sylvie Quideau, Jérôme Laganière, Justine Karst, Christine Martineau, Mathew Swallow, Charlotte Norris, and Abdul Samad
SOIL, 9, 461–478, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-461-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-461-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earthworm invasion in North American forests can alter soil functioning. We investigated how the presence of invasive earthworms affected microbial communities, key drivers of soil biogeochemistry, across the major soil types of the Canadian boreal forest, which is a region largely understudied. Although total microbial biomass did not change, community composition shifted in earthworm-invaded mineral soils, where we also found higher fungal biomass and greater microbial species diversity.
Ina Säumel, Leonardo R. Ramírez, Sarah Tietjen, Marcos Barra, and Erick Zagal
SOIL, 9, 425–442, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-425-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-425-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed intensification of Uruguayan grasslands in a country-wide survey on fertility proxies, pH and trace metals in topsoils. We observed a loss of nutrients, trace metals and organic matter in grasslands, croplands and timber plantations and accumulation in riverine forests. This raises questions about the carrying capacity of Uruguayan soils with regard to currently implemented intensification strategies and supports more conservative forms of extensive grassland management.
David Paré, Jérôme Laganière, Guy R. Larocque, and Robert Boutin
SOIL, 8, 673–686, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-673-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-673-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Major soil carbon pools and fluxes were assessed along a climatic gradient expanding 4 °C in mean annual temperature for two important boreal conifer forest stand types. Species and a warmer climate affected soil organic matter (SOM) cycling but not stocks. Contrarily to common hypotheses, SOM lability was not reduced by warmer climatic conditions and perhaps increased. Results apply to cold and wet conditions and a stable vegetation composition along the climate gradient.
Kaikuo Wu, Wentao Li, Zhanbo Wei, Zhi Dong, Yue Meng, Na Lv, and Lili Zhang
SOIL, 8, 645–654, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-645-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-645-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We explored the effects of mild alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation combined with rice straw return on N2O emissions and rice yield through rice pot experiments. Mild AWD irrigation significantly increased both N2O and yield-scaled N2O emissions. The addition of rice straw under mild AWD irrigation could promote N2O emissions. Mild AWD irrigation could reduce soil-nitrogen uptake by rice when urea was applied. Mild AWD irrigation reduced rice aboveground biomass but not rice yield.
Kate M. Buckeridge, Kate A. Edwards, Kyungjin Min, Susan E. Ziegler, and Sharon A. Billings
SOIL, 6, 399–412, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-399-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-399-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We do not understand the short- and long-term temperature response of soil denitrifiers, which produce and consume N2O. Boreal forest soils from a long-term climate gradient were incubated in short-term warming experiments. We found stronger N2O consumption at depth, inconsistent microbial gene abundance and function, and consistent higher N2O emissions from warmer-climate soils at warmer temperatures. Consideration of our results in models will contribute to improved climate projections.
Marco Allegrini, Elena Gomez, and María Celina Zabaloy
SOIL, 6, 291–297, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-291-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-291-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Research was conducted to assess the response of microbial communities in a soil with a long history of glyphosate-based herbicides to a secondary imposed perturbation (dry–rewetting event). Both perturbations could increase their frequency under current agricultural practices and climate change. The results of this study demonstrate that acute exposure to a glyphosate-based herbicide does not have a conditioning effect on the response of microbial communities to the dry–rewetting event.
Christopher Poeplau, Páll Sigurðsson, and Bjarni D. Sigurdsson
SOIL, 6, 115–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-115-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-115-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Global warming leads to increased mineralisation of soil organic matter, inducing a positive climate–carbon cycle feedback loop. Loss of organic matter can be associated with loss of soil structure. Here we use a strong geothermal gradient to investigate soil warming effects on soil organic matter and structural parameters in subarctic forest and grassland soils. Strong depletion of organic matter caused a collapse of aggregates, highlighting the potential impact of warming on soil function.
Natalia Andrea Osinaga, Carina Rosa Álvarez, and Miguel Angel Taboada
SOIL, 4, 251–257, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-251-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-4-251-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The sub-humid Argentine Chaco, originally covered by forest, has been subjected to clearing since the end of the 1970s and replacement of the forest by no-till farming. The organic carbon stock content up to 1 m depth varied as follows: forest > pasture > continuous cropping, with no impact of the number of years under cropping. The incorporation of pastures of warm-season grasses was able to mitigate the decrease of C stocks caused by cropping and so could be considered sustainable management.
Justine Barthod, Cornélia Rumpel, Remigio Paradelo, and Marie-France Dignac
SOIL, 2, 673–683, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-673-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-673-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we evaluated CO2 emissions during composting of green wastes with clay and/or biochar in the presence and absence of worms, as well as the effect of those amendments on carbon mineralization after application to soil. Our results indicated that the addition of clay or clay–biochar mixture reduced carbon mineralization during co-composting without worms by up to 44 %. In the presence of worms, CO2 emissions during composting increased for all treatments except for the low clay dose.
Miriam Muñoz-Rojas, Todd E. Erickson, Dylan C. Martini, Kingsley W. Dixon, and David J. Merritt
SOIL, 2, 287–298, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-287-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-287-2016, 2016
M. S. Torn, A. Chabbi, P. Crill, P. J. Hanson, I. A. Janssens, Y. Luo, C. H. Pries, C. Rumpel, M. W. I. Schmidt, J. Six, M. Schrumpf, and B. Zhu
SOIL, 1, 575–582, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-575-2015, 2015
M. Köchy, A. Don, M. K. van der Molen, and A. Freibauer
SOIL, 1, 367–380, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-367-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-367-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Using ranges for variables in a model of organic C stocks of the top 1m of soil on a global 0.5° grid, we assessed the (un)certainty of changes in stocks over the next 75 years. Changes are more certain where land-use change strongly affects carbon inputs and where higher temperatures and adequate moisture favour decomposition, e.g. tropical mountain forests. Global stocks will increase by 1% with a certainty of 75% if inputs to the soil increase due to CO₂ fertilization of the vegetation.
P. Alexander, K. Paustian, P. Smith, and D. Moran
SOIL, 1, 331–339, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-331-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-331-2015, 2015
Cited articles
Allison, S. D., Wallenstein, M. D., and Bradford, M. A.:
Soil-carbon response to warming dependent on microbial physiology,
Nat. Geosci.,
3, 336–340, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo846, 2010.
Ayari, A., Yang, H., Xie, S., and Wiesenberg, G. L. B.:
Distribution of archaeal and bacterial tetraether membrane lipids in rhizosphere-root systems in soils and their implication for paleoclimate assessment,
Geochem. J.,
47, 337–347, https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0249, 2013.
Bai, T., Tao, J., Li, Z., Shu, M., Yan, X., Wang, P., Ye, C., Guo, H., Wang, Y., and Hu, S.:
Different microbial responses in top- and sub-soils to elevated temperature and substrate addition in a semiarid grassland on the Loess Plateau,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
70, 1025–1036, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12800, 2019.
Bradford, M. A.:
Thermal adaptation of decomposer communities in warming soils,
Front. Microbiol.,
4, 333, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2013.00333, 2013.
Bradford, M. A., Davies, C. A., Frey, S. D., Maddox, T. R., Melillo, J. M., Mohan, J. E., Reynolds, J. F., Treseder, K. K., and Wallenstein, M. D.:
Thermal adaptation of soil microbial respiration to elevated temperature,
Ecol. Lett.,
11, 1316–1327, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x, 2008.
Brewer, T. E., Aronson, E. L., Arogyaswamy, K., Billings, S. A., Botthoff, J. K., Campbell, A. N., Dove, N. C., Fairbanks, D., Gallery, R. E., Hart, S. C., Kaye, J., King, G., Logan, G., Lohse, K. A., Maltz, M. R., Mayorga, E., O'Neill, C., Owens, S. M., Packman, A., Pett-Ridge, J., Plante, A. F., Richter, D. D., Silver, W. L., Yang, W. H., and Fierer, N.:
Ecological and genomic attributes of novel bacterial taxa that thrive in subsurface soil horizons,
MBio,
10, e01318-19, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01318-19, 2019.
Chen, J., Luo, Y., Xia, J., Jiang, L., Zhou, X., Lu, M., Liang, J., Shi, Z., Shelton, S., and Cao, J.:
Stronger warming effects on microbial abundances in colder regions,
Sci. Rep.-UK,
5, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18032, 2015.
Coffinet, S., Huguet, A., Williamson, D., Fosse, C., and Derenne, S.:
Potential of GDGTs as a temperature proxy along an altitudinal transect at Mount Rungwe (Tanzania),
Org. Geochem.,
68, 82–89, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2014.01.004, 2014.
Contosta, A. R., Frey, S. D., and Cooper, A. B.:
Soil microbial communities vary as much over time as with chronic warming and nitrogen additions,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
88, 19–24, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.04.013, 2015.
De Jonge, C., Hopmans, E. C., Zell, C. I., Kim, J.-H., Schouten, S., and Sinninghe Damsté, J. S.:
Occurrence and abundance of 6-methyl branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in soils: Implications for palaeoclimate reconstruction,
Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac.,
141, 97–112, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2014.06.013, 2014.
De Jonge, C., Radujković, D., Sigurdsson, B. D., Weedon, J. T., Janssens, I., and Peterse, F.:
Lipid biomarker temperature proxy responds to abrupt shift in the bacterial community composition in geothermally heated soils, Org. Geochem., 137, 103897, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2019.07.006, 2019.
Drenovsky, R. E., Vo, D., Graham, K. J., and Scow, K. M.:
Soil water content and organic carbon availability are major determinants of soil microbial community composition,
Microb. Ecol.,
48, 424–430, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-003-1063-2, 2004.
Fanin, N., Kardol, P., Farrell, M., Nilsson, M.-C., Gundale, M. J., and Wardle, D. A.:
The ratio of Gram-positive to Gram-negative bacterial PLFA markers as an indicator of carbon availability in organic soils,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
128, 111–114, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.10.010, 2019.
Fierer, N.:
Embracing the unknown: Disentangling the complexities of the soil microbiome,
Nat. Rev. Microbiol.,
15, 579–590, https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2017.87, 2017.
Fierer, N., Allen, A. S., Schimel, J. P., and Holden, P. A.:
Controls on microbial CO2 production: A comparison of surface and subsurface soil horizons,
Glob. Change Biol.,
9, 1322–1332, https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2486.2003.00663.x, 2003a.
Fierer, N., Schimel, J. P., and Holden, P. A.:
Variations in microbial community composition through two soil depth profiles,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
35, 167–176, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-0717(02)00251-1, 2003b.
Frey, S. D., Drijber, R., Smith, H., and Melillo, J.:
Microbial biomass, functional capacity, and community structure after 12 years of soil warming,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
40, 2904–2907, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.07.020, 2008.
Frostegård, Å., Tunlid, A., and Bååth, E.:
Microbial biomass measured as total lipid phosphate in soils of different organic content,
J. Microbiol. Meth.,
14, 151–163, https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-7012(91)90018-L, 1991.
Gocke, M. I., Huguet, A., Derenne, S., Kolb, S., Dippold, M. A., and Wiesenberg, G. L. B.:
Disentangling interactions between microbial communities and roots in deep subsoil,
Sci. Total Environ.,
575, 135–145, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.184, 2017.
Goodfellow, M. and Williams, S. T.:
Ecology of Actinomycetes,
Annu. Rev. Microbiol.,
37, 189–216, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.mi.37.100183.001201, 1983.
Griffiths, B. S., Ritz, K., Ebblewhite, N., and Dobson, G.:
Soil microbial community structure: Effects of substrate loading rates,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
31, 145–153, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0038-0717(98)00117-5, 1999.
Hall, E. K., Singer, G. A., Kainz, M. J., and Lennon, J. T.:
Evidence for a temperature acclimation mechanism in bacteria: An empirical test of a membrane-mediated trade-off,
Funct. Ecol.,
24, 898–908, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01707.x, 2010.
Hicks Pries, C. E., Castanha, C., Porras, R. C., and Torn, M. S.:
The whole-soil carbon flux in response to warming,
Science,
355, 1420–1423, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal1319, 2017.
Huguet, A., Fosse, C., Laggoun-Défarge, F., Delarue, F., and Derenne, S.:
Effects of a short-term experimental microclimate warming on the abundance and distribution of branched GDGTs in a French peatland,
Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac.,
105, 294–315, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2012.11.037, 2013.
Huguet, A., Coffinet, S., Roussel, A., Gayraud, F., Anquetil, C., Bergonzini, L., Bonanomi, G., 836 Williamson, D., Majule, A., and Derenne, S.:
Evaluation of 3-hydroxy fatty acids as a pH and temperature proxy in soils from temperate and tropical altitudinal gradients,
Org. Geochem.,
129, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2019.01.002, 2019.
IPCC:
Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
edited by: Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J, Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley, P. M.,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 2013.
Jansson, J. K. and Hofmockel, K. S.:
Soil microbiomes and climate change,
Nat. Rev. Microbiol.,
18, 35–46, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41579-019-0265-7, 2020.
Jobbagy, E. G. and Jackson, R. B.:
The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation,
Ecol. Appl.,
10, 423–436, https://doi.org/10.1890/1051-0761(2000)010[0423:TVDOSO]2.0.CO;2, 2000.
Kindler, R., Miltner, A., Thullner, M., Richnow, H. H., and Kästner, M.:
Fate of bacterial biomass derived fatty acids in soil and their contribution to soil organic matter,
Org. Geochem.,
40, 29–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2008.09.005, 2009.
Kirschbaum, M. U. F.:
Soil respiration under prolonged soil warming: Are rate reductions caused by acclimation or substrate loss?,
Glob. Change Biol.,
10, 1870–1877, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2004.00852.x, 2004.
Leppälammi-Kujansuu, J., Ostonen, I., Strömgren, M., Nilsson, L. O., Kleja, D. B., Sah, S. P., and Helmisaari, H. S.:
Effects of long-term temperature and nutrient manipulation on Norway spruce fine roots and mycelia production,
Plant Soil,
366, 287–303, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1431-0, 2013.
Lin, W., Li, Y., Yang, Z., Giardina, C. P., Xie, J., Chen, S., Lin, C., Kuzyakov, Y., and Yang, Y.:
Warming exerts greater impacts on subsoil than topsoil CO2 efflux in a subtropical forest,
Agr. Forest. Meteorol.,
263, 137–146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.08.014, 2018.
Lindahl, B. D., Ihrmark, K., Boberg, J., Trumbore, S. E., Högberg, P., Stenlid, J., and Finlay, R. D.:
Spatial separation of litter decomposition and mycorrhizal nitrogen uptake in a boreal forest,
New Phytol.,
173, 611–620, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01936.x, 2007.
Manzoni, S., Schimel, J. P., and Porporato, A.:
Responses of soil microbial communities to water stress: Results from a meta-analysis,
Ecology,
93, 930–938, https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0026.1, 2012.
Melillo, J. M., Frey, S. D., DeAngelis, K. M., Werner, W. J., Bernard, M. J., Bowles, F. P., Pold, G., Knorr, M. A., and Grandy, A. S.:
Long-term pattern and magnitude of soil carbon feedback to the climate system in a warming world,
Science,
358, 101–105, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan2874, 2017.
Menges, J., Huguet, C., Alcañiz, J. M., Fietz, S., Sachse, D., and Rosell-Melé, A.: Influence of water availability in the distributions of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether in soils of the Iberian Peninsula, Biogeosciences, 11, 2571–2581, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-2571-2014, 2014.
Naylor, D., DeGraaf, S., Purdom, E., and Coleman-Derr, D.:
Drought and host selection influence bacterial community dynamics in the grass root microbiome,
ISME J.,
11, 2691–2704, https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.118, 2017.
Nottingham, A. T., Meir, P., Velasquez, E., and Turner, B. L.:
Soil carbon loss by experimental warming in a tropical forest,
Nature,
584, 234–237, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2566-4, 2020.
Ofiti, N. O. E., Zosso, C. U., Soong, J. L., Solly, E. F., Margaret, S., and Schmidt, M. W. I.:
Warming promotes loss of subsoil carbon through accelerated degradation of plant-derived organic matter,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
156, 108185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108185, 2021.
Oliverio, A. M., Bradford, M. A., and Fierer, N.:
Identifying the microbial taxa that consistently respond to soil warming across time and space,
Glob. Change Biol.,
23, 2117–2129, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13557, 2017.
Polade, S. D., Gershunov, A., Cayan, D. R., Dettinger, M. D., and Pierce, D. W.:
Precipitation in a warming world: Assessing projected hydro-climate changes in California and other Mediterranean climate regions,
Sci. Rep.-UK,
7, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-11285-y, 2017.
Pold, G., Billings, A. F., Blanchard, J. L., Burkhardt, D. B., Frey, S. D., Melillo, J. M., Schnabel, J., van Diepen, L. T. A., and DeAngelis, K. M.:
Long-term warming alters carbohydrate degradation potential in temperate forest soils,
Appl. Environ. Microbiol.,
82, 6518–6530, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02012-16, 2016.
Pold, G., Grandy, A. S., Melillo, J. M., and DeAngelis, K. M.:
Changes in substrate availability drive carbon cycle response to chronic warming,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
110, 68–78, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.03.002, 2017.
R Core Team: R: A language and environment for statistical computing,
R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria,
available at: https://www.r-project.org/ (last access: 18 May 2021), 2020.
Ramsey, P. W., Rillig, M. C., Feris, K. P., Holben, W. E., and Gannon, J. E.:
Choice of methods for soil microbial community analysis: PLFA maximizes power compared to CLPP and PCR-based approaches,
Pedobiologia (Jena),
50, 275–280, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2006.03.003, 2006.
Roth, V.-N., Lange, M., Simon, C., Hertkorn, N., Bucher, S., Goodall, T., Griffiths, R. I., Mellado-Vázquez, P. G., Mommer, L., Oram, N. J., Weigelt, A., Dittmar, T., and Gleixner, G.:
Persistence of dissolved organic matter explained by molecular changes during its passage through soil,
Nat. Geosci.,
12, 755–761, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0417-4, 2019.
Rumpel, C. and Kögel-Knabner, I.:
Deep soil organic matter-a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle,
Plant Soil,
338, 143–158, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0391-5, 2011.
Sinninghe Damsté, J. S., Rijpstra, W. I. C., Hopmans, E. C., Foesel, B. U., Wüst, P. K., Overmann, J., Tank, M., Bryant, D. A., Dunfield, P. F., Houghton, K., and Stott, M. B.:
Ether- and ester-bound iso-diabolic acid and other lipids in members of Acidobacteria subdivision 4,
Appl. Environ. Microbiol.,
80, 5207–5218, https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01066-14, 2014.
Soong, J. L., Phillips, C. L., Ledna, C., Koven, C. D., and Torn, M. S.:
CMIP5 Models Predict Rapid and Deep Soil Warming Over the 21st Century,
J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo.,
125, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jg005266, 2020a.
Soong, J. L., Fuchslueger, L., Marañon-Jimenez, S., Torn, M. S., Janssens, I. A., Penuelas, J., and Richter, A.:
Microbial carbon limitation: The need for integrating microorganisms into our understanding of ecosystem carbon cycling,
Glob. Change Biol.,
26, 1953–1961, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14962, 2020b.
Soong, J. L., Castanha, C., Hicks Pries, C. E., Ofiti, N., Porras, R., Riley, W. J., Schmidt, M. W. I., and Torn, M. S.:
Five years of whole-soil warming led to loss of subsoil carbon stocks and increased CO2 efflux,
Science Advances,
7, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abd1343, 2021.
Vance, E. D., Brookes, P. C., and Jenkinson, D. S.:
An extraction Method for measuring soil microbial biomass C,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
19, 703–707, https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(87)90052-6, 1987.
Walker, T. W. N., Kaiser, C., Strasser, F., Herbold, C. W., Leblans, N. I. W., Woebken, D., Janssens, I. A., Sigurdsson, B. D., and Richter, A.:
Microbial temperature sensitivity and biomass change explain soil carbon loss with warming,
Nat. Clim. Change,
8, 885–889, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0259-x, 2018.
Weijers, J. W. H., Wiesenberg, G. L. B., Bol, R., Hopmans, E. C., and Pancost, R. D.: Carbon isotopic composition of branched tetraether membrane lipids in soils suggest a rapid turnover and a heterotrophic life style of their source organism(s), Biogeosciences, 7, 2959–2973, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-2959-2010, 2010.
Wiesenberg, G. L. B. and Gocke, M. I.:
Analysis of Lipids and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as Indicators of Past and Present (Micro)Biological Activity,
in: Hydrocarbon and lipid microbiology protocols,
edited by: McGenity, T., Timmis, K., and Nogales, B.,
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, Germany, 61–91, https://doi.org/10.1007/8623_2015_157, 2017.
Willers, C., Jansen van Rensburg, P. J., and Claassens, S.:
Phospholipid fatty acid profiling of microbial communities-a review of interpretations and recent applications,
J. Appl. Microbiol.,
119, 1207–1218, https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12902, 2015.
Wixon, D. L. and Balser, T. C.:
Toward conceptual clarity: PLFA in warmed soils,
Soil Biol. Biochem.,
57, 769–774, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.08.016, 2013.
Yan, D., Li, J., Pei, J., Cui, J., Nie, M., and Fang, C.:
The temperature sensitivity of soil organic carbon decomposition is greater in subsoil than in topsoil during laboratory incubation,
Sci. Rep.-UK,
7, 1–9, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05293-1, 2017.
Zhang, B., Chen, S. Y., Zhang, J. F., He, X. Y., Liu, W. J., Zhao, Q., Zhao, L., and Tian, C. J.:
Depth-related responses of soil microbial communities to experimental warming in an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,
Eur. J. Soil Sci.,
66, 496–504, https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12240, 2015.
Zosso, C. U. and Wiesenberg, G. L. B.:
Methylation procedures affect PLFA results more than selected extraction parameters,
J. Microbiol. Meth.,
182, 106164, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mimet.2021.106164, 2021.
Zosso, C., Schmidt, M. W., Torn, M. S., Wiesenberg, G. L., Ofiti, N. O., Huguet, A., Soong, J. L., and Solly, E. F.: Blodgett Forest CA Warming Experiment phospholipid fatty acid and branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers data 2018 from: “Whole-soil warming decreases abundance and modifies the community structure of microorganisms in the subsoil but not in surface soil”, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science at Berkeley Lab [data set], https://doi.org/10.15485/1810163, 2021.
Short summary
How subsoil microorganisms respond to warming is largely unknown, despite their crucial role in the soil organic carbon cycle. We observed that the subsoil microbial community composition was more responsive to warming compared to the topsoil community composition. Decreased microbial abundance in subsoils, as observed in this study, might reduce the magnitude of the respiration response over time, and a shift in the microbial community will likely affect the cycling of soil organic carbon.
How subsoil microorganisms respond to warming is largely unknown, despite their crucial role in...
