Gene-informed decomposition model predicts lower soil carbon loss due to persistent microbial adaptation to warming

Xue Guo, Qun Gao, Mengting Yuan, Gangsheng Wang, Xishu Zhou, Jiajie Feng, Zhou Shi, Lauren Hale, Linwei Wu, Aifen Zhou, Renmao Tian, Feifei Liu, Bo Wu, Lijun Chen, Chang Gyo Jung, Shuli Niu, Dejun Li, Xia Xu, Lifen Jiang, Arthur Escalas, Liyou Wu, Zhili He, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Daliang Ning, Xueduan Liu, Yunfeng Yang, Edward. A. G. Schuur, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, James R. Cole, C. Ryan Penton, Yiqi Luo, James M. Tiedje and Jizhong Zhou ()
Additional contact information
Xue Guo: Tsinghua University
Qun Gao: Tsinghua University
Mengting Yuan: University of California
Gangsheng Wang: University of Oklahoma
Xishu Zhou: University of Oklahoma
Jiajie Feng: University of Oklahoma
Zhou Shi: University of Oklahoma
Lauren Hale: University of Oklahoma
Linwei Wu: University of Oklahoma
Aifen Zhou: University of Oklahoma
Renmao Tian: University of Oklahoma
Feifei Liu: University of Oklahoma
Bo Wu: University of Oklahoma
Lijun Chen: University of Oklahoma
Chang Gyo Jung: Northern Arizona University
Shuli Niu: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dejun Li: Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xia Xu: Nanjing Forestry University
Lifen Jiang: Northern Arizona University
Arthur Escalas: University of Oklahoma
Liyou Wu: University of Oklahoma
Zhili He: University of Oklahoma
Joy D. Van Nostrand: University of Oklahoma
Daliang Ning: University of Oklahoma
Xueduan Liu: Central South University
Yunfeng Yang: Tsinghua University
Edward. A. G. Schuur: Northern Arizona University
Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and School of Biological Science, Georgia Institute of Technology
James R. Cole: Michigan State University
C. Ryan Penton: Arizona State University
Yiqi Luo: Northern Arizona University
James M. Tiedje: Michigan State University
Jizhong Zhou: Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Soil microbial respiration is an important source of uncertainty in projecting future climate and carbon (C) cycle feedbacks. However, its feedbacks to climate warming and underlying microbial mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here we show that the temperature sensitivity of soil microbial respiration (Q10) in a temperate grassland ecosystem persistently decreases by 12.0 ± 3.7% across 7 years of warming. Also, the shifts of microbial communities play critical roles in regulating thermal adaptation of soil respiration. Incorporating microbial functional gene abundance data into a microbially-enabled ecosystem model significantly improves the modeling performance of soil microbial respiration by 5–19%, and reduces model parametric uncertainty by 55–71%. In addition, modeling analyses show that the microbial thermal adaptation can lead to considerably less heterotrophic respiration (11.6 ± 7.5%), and hence less soil C loss. If such microbially mediated dampening effects occur generally across different spatial and temporal scales, the potential positive feedback of soil microbial respiration in response to climate warming may be less than previously predicted.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18706-z

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