Short-Term Response of the Soil Microbial Abundances and Enzyme Activities to Experimental Warming in a Boreal Peatland in Northeast China

Yanyu Song, Changchun Song, Jiusheng Ren, Xiuyan Ma, Wenwen Tan, Xianwei Wang, Jinli Gao and Aixin Hou
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Yanyu Song: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Changchun Song: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Jiusheng Ren: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Xiuyan Ma: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Wenwen Tan: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Xianwei Wang: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Jinli Gao: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China
Aixin Hou: Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Global warming is likely to influence the soil microorganisms and enzyme activity and alter the carbon and nitrogen balance of peatland ecosystems. To investigate the difference in sensitivities of carbon and nitrogen cycling microorganisms and enzyme activity to warming, we conducted three-year warming experiments in a boreal peatland. Our findings demonstrated that both mcr A and nir S gene abundance in shallow soil and deep soil exhibited insensitivity to warming, while shallow soil archaea 16S rRNA gene and amo A gene abundance in both shallow soil and deep soil increased under warming. Soil pmo A gene abundance of both layers, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in shallow soil, and nir K gene abundance in deep soil decreased due to warming. The decreases of these gene abundances would be a result of losing labile substrates because of the competitive interactions between aboveground plants and underground soil microorganisms. Experimental warming inhibited β-glucosidase activity in two soil layers and invertase activity in deep soil, while it stimulated acid phosphatase activity in shallow soil. Both temperature and labile substrates regulate the responses of soil microbial abundances and enzyme activities to warming and affect the coupling relationships of carbon and nitrogen. This study provides a potential microbial mechanism controlling carbon and nitrogen cycling in peatland under climate warming.

Keywords: peatlands; climate warming; microbial abundance; soil enzyme; dissolved organic carbon; available nitrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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