Legacy Effect of Long-Term Elevated CO 2 and Warming on Soil Properties Controls Soil Organic Matter Decomposition

Jie Li, Baobao Sun, Cheng Liu, Marios Drosos, Xuhui Zhang, Xiaoyu Liu (), Lianqing Li and Genxing Pan
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Jie Li: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Baobao Sun: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Cheng Liu: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Marios Drosos: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Xuhui Zhang: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Xiaoyu Liu: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Lianqing Li: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China
Genxing Pan: Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang, Nanjing 210095, China

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-12

Abstract: Plant litter quality is one of the key factors that control soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. Under climate change, although significant change in litter quality has been intensively reported, the effect of litter quality change on SOM decomposition is poorly understood. This limits our ability to model the dynamics of soil carbon under climate change. To determine the effect of litter quality and soil property change on SOM decomposition, we performed a controlled, reciprocal transplant and litter decomposition experiments. The soils and plant litters were collected from a long-term field experiment, where four treatments were designed, including: (1) the control without warming at ambient CO 2 ; (2) elevated atmospheric CO 2 up to 500 ppm (C); (3) warming plant canopy by 2 °C (T); (4) elevated CO 2 plus warming (CT). We found that elevated CO 2 and warming altered the litter quality significantly in terms of macronutrients’ content and their stoichiometry. Elevated CO 2 decreased the concentration of N in rice and wheat straw, while warming decreased the concentration of N and K in wheat straw. However, the change in plant litter quality did not lead to a shift in SOM decomposition. On the contrary, the legacy effect of long-term elevated CO 2 and warming on soil properties dominated the decomposition rate of SOM. Elevated atmospheric CO 2 suppressed SOM decomposition mainly by increasing phosphorous availability and lowering the soil C/N, fungi/bacteria ratio, and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase activity, while warming or elevated CO 2 plus warming had no effect on SOM decomposition. Our results demonstrated that the changes in soil property other than litter quality control the decomposition of SOM under climate change, and soil property change in respond to climate change should be considered in model developing to predict terrestrial soil carbon dynamics under elevated atmospheric CO 2 and warming.

Keywords: atmosphere CO 2 enrichment; plant canopy warming; free air CO 2 enrichment; soil organic matter mineralization; plant litter; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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