Soil microbial communities regulate the threshold effect of salinity stress on SOM decomposition in coastal salt marshes

Salinity stress is one of the critical environmental drivers of soil organic matter(SOM)decomposition in coastal ecosystems.Although the temperature sensitivity(Q_(10))of SOM decomposition has been widely applied in Earth system models to forecast carbon processes,the impact of salinity on SOM decomposition by restructuring microbial communities remains uncovered.Here,we conducted a microcosm experiment with soils collected from the coastal salt marsh in the Yellow River Estuary,which is subjected to strong dynamics of salinity due to both tidal flooding and drainage.By setting a gradient of salt solutions,soil salinity was adjusted to simulate salinity stress and soil carbon emission(CO_(2))rate was measured over the period.Results showed that as salinity increased,the estimated decomposition constants based on first-order kinetics gradually decreased at different temperatures.Below the 20‰salinity treatments,which doubled the soil salinity,Q_(10)increased with increasing salinity;but higher salinity constrained the temperature-related response of SOM decomposition by inhibiting microbial growth and carbon metabolisms.Soil bacteria were more sensitive to salinity stress than fungi,which can be inferred from the response of microbial beta-diversity to changing salinity.Among them,the phylotypes assigned to Gammaproteobacteria and Bacilli showed higher salt tolerance,whereas taxa affiliated with Alphaproteobacteria and Bacteroidota were more easily inhibited by the salinity stress.Several fungal taxa belonging to Ascomycota had higher adaptability to the stress.As the substrate was consumed with the incubation,bacterial competition intensified,but the fungal co-occurrence pattern changed weakly during decomposition.Collectively,these findings revealed the threshold effect of salinity on SOM decomposition in coastal salt marshes and emphasized that salt stress plays a key role in carbon sequestration by regulating microbial keystone taxa,metabolisms,and interactions.

Larger floods reduce soil CO_(2)efflux during the post-flooding phase in seasonally flooded forests of Western Amazonia

Seasonally flooded várzea forests of Western Amazonia are one of the most productive and biodiverse wetland forests in the world.However,data on their soil CO_(2)emissions,soil organic matter decomposition rates,and soil C stocks are scarce.This is a concern because hydrological changes are predicted to lead to increases in the height,extent,and duration of seasonal floods,which are likely to have a significant effect on soil C stocks and fluxes.However,with no empirical data,the impact of altered flood regimes on várzea soil C cycles remains uncertain.This study quantified the effects of maximum annual flood height and soil moisture on soil CO_(2)efflux rate(R_(s))and soil organic matter decomposition rate(k)in the várzea forests of Pacaya Samiria National Reserve,Peru.The study was conducted between May and August 2017.The results showed that R_(s)(10.6–182.7 mg C m^(-2)h^(-1))and k(0.016–0.078)varied between and within sites,and were considerably lower than the values reported for other tropical forests.In addition,R_(s)was negatively affected by flood height(P<0.01)and soil moisture(P<0.001),and it decreased with decreasing river levels post flooding(P<0.001).In contrast,k was not affected by any of the above-mentioned factors.Soil moisture was the dominant factor influencing R_(s),and it was significantly affected by maximum flood height,even after the floods had subsided(P<0.001).Consequently,we concluded that larger floods will likely lead to reduced R_(s),whilst k could remain unchanged but with decomposition processes becoming more anaerobic.

Comparative analysis of planted and unplanted controls for assessment of rhizosphere priming effect

The rhizosphere priming effect(RPE)is increasingly being considered to be an important regulator of soil organic matter(SOM)decomposition and nutrient turnover,with potential importance for the global CO_(2) budget.As a result,studies on the RPE have rapidly increased in number over the last few years.Most of these experiments have been performed using unplanted soil as the control,which could potentially lead to incorrect assessment of the RPE.Therefore,we performed a greenhouse experiment to investigate how the choice of control(i.e.,unplanted control and planted control)influenced the quantification of RPE on SOM decomposition and gross nitrogen(N)mineralization,and to link this to differences in microbial and abiotic soil properties between the two controls.In the planted control,planted seedlings were cut at soil surface 5 d before measurement of the RPE.The RPE on SOM decomposition was positive in pine soil and almost 2-fold higher when calculated from the planted control than from the unplanted control.In spruce soil,a negative RPE on SOM decomposition was found when calculated from the planted control,while the RPE was positive when calculated from the unplanted control.No RPE on gross N mineralization was found when calculated from the planted control,while a positive RPE of more than 100%was found when calculated from the unplanted control.The microbial biomass and growth rate were lower,while the inorganic N content was higher in the unplanted control than in the planted control.The microbial community composition and potential enzyme activity in the planted treatment and planted control were similar,but they differed significantly from those in the unplanted control.The results showed that the RPE varied widely depending on the choice of control;thus,we suggest that a planted control,in which the aboveground plant parts are removed only a few days before the measurement of RPE,should be used as the control when elucidating the RPE on belowground C and N cycling responses to environmental change.