Divergent accumulation of microbial necromass and plant lignin components in grassland soils

Tian Ma, Shanshan Zhu, Zhiheng Wang, Dima Chen, Guohua Dai, Bowei Feng, Xiangyan Su, Huifeng Hu, Kaihui Li, Wenxuan Han, Chao Liang, Yongfei Bai and Xiaojuan Feng ()
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Tian Ma: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shanshan Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhiheng Wang: Peking University
Dima Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guohua Dai: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Bowei Feng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiangyan Su: Peking University
Huifeng Hu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kaihui Li: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wenxuan Han: China Agricultural University
Chao Liang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yongfei Bai: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaojuan Feng: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The means through which microbes and plants contribute to soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation remain elusive due to challenges in disentangling the complex components of SOC. Here we use amino sugars and lignin phenols as tracers for microbial necromass and plant lignin components, respectively, and investigate their distribution in the surface soils across Mongolian grasslands in comparison with published data for other grassland soils of the world. While lignin phenols decrease, amino sugars increase with SOC contents in all examined grassland soils, providing continental-scale evidence for the key role of microbial necromass in SOC accumulation. Moreover, in contrast to clay’s control on amino sugar accumulation in fine-textured soils, aridity plays a central role in amino sugar accrual and lignin decomposition in the coarse-textured Mongolian soils. Hence, aridity shifts may have differential impacts on microbial-mediated SOC accumulation in grassland soils of varied textures.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05891-1

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