Soil fungi remain active and invest in storage compounds during drought independent of future climate conditions

Alberto Canarini (), Lucia Fuchslueger (), Jörg Schnecker, Dennis Metze, Daniel B. Nelson, Ansgar Kahmen, Margarete Watzka, Erich M. Pötsch, Andreas Schaumberger, Michael Bahn and Andreas Richter ()
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Alberto Canarini: University of Vienna
Lucia Fuchslueger: University of Vienna
Jörg Schnecker: University of Vienna
Dennis Metze: University of Vienna
Daniel B. Nelson: University of Basel
Ansgar Kahmen: University of Basel
Margarete Watzka: University of Vienna
Erich M. Pötsch: Agricultural Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein
Andreas Schaumberger: Agricultural Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein
Michael Bahn: Universität Innsbruck
Andreas Richter: University of Vienna

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Microbial growth is central to soil carbon cycling. However, how microbial communities grow under climate change is still largely unexplored. Here we use a unique field experiment simulating future climate conditions (increased atmospheric CO2 and temperature) and drought concomitantly and investigate impacts on soil microbial activity. We trace 2H or 18O applied via water-vapor exchange into membrane (and storage) fatty acids or DNA, respectively, to assess community- and group-level adjustments in soil microbial physiology (replication, storage product synthesis, and carbon use efficiency). We show that, while bacterial growth decreases by half during drought, fungal growth remains stable, demonstrating a remarkable resistance against soil moisture changes. In addition, fungal investment into storage triglycerides increases more than five-fold under drought. Community-level carbon use efficiency (the balance between anabolism and catabolism) is unaffected by drought but decreases in future climate conditions, favoring catabolism. Our results highlight that accounting for different microbial growth strategies can foster our understanding of soil microbial contributions to carbon cycling and feedback on the climate system.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54537-y

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