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Anaerobic microsites have an unaccounted role in soil carbon stabilization

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]
  1. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States). School of Earth and Sustainability and Stockbridge School of Agriculture; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Earth System Science Department
  2. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). Department of Crop and Soil Science
  3. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). Department of Crop and Soil Science; Institut für Bodenlandschaftsforschung, Leibnitz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V., Müncheberg (Germany)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Earth and Environmental Sciences Area
  5. Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Earth System Science Department

Soils represent the largest carbon reservoir within terrestrial ecosystems. The mechanisms controlling the amount of carbon stored and its feedback to the climate system, however, remain poorly resolved. Global carbon models assume that carbon cycling in upland soils is entirely driven by aerobic respiration; the impact of anaerobic microsites prevalent even within well-drained soils is missed within this conception. Here, we show that anaerobic microsites are important regulators of soil carbon persistence, shifting microbial metabolism to less efficient anaerobic respiration, and selectively protecting otherwise bioavailable, reduced organic compounds such as lipids and waxes from decomposition. Further, shifting from anaerobic to aerobic conditions leads to a 10-fold increase in volume-specific mineralization rate, illustrating the sensitivity of anaerobically protected carbon to disturbance. The vulnerability of anaerobically protected carbon to future climate or land use change thus constitutes a yet unrecognized soil carbon-climate feedback that should be incorporated into terrestrial ecosystem models.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0016544
OSTI ID:
1476578
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 8; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Reviews and syntheses: The mechanisms underlying carbon storage in soil journal February 2020
Geomorphic regulation of floodplain soil organic carbon concentration in watersheds of the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, USA journal January 2018
Hydrogeomorphic controls on soil carbon composition in two classes of subalpine wetlands journal September 2019
Dissolved Organic Matter Chemistry and Transport Along an Arctic Tundra Hillslope journal January 2019
A Theory of Effective Microbial Substrate Affinity Parameters in Variably Saturated Soils and an Example Application to Aerobic Soil Heterotrophic Respiration journal April 2019
Leveraging Environmental Research and Observation Networks to Advance Soil Carbon Science journal May 2019
Carbon Chemistry of Intact Versus Chronically Drained Peatlands in the Southeastern USA journal September 2019
Compositional Characteristics of Fluvial Particulate Organic Matter Exported From the World's Largest Alpine Wetland journal September 2019
Global ecological predictors of the soil priming effect journal August 2019
Temperature and moisture are minor drivers of regional-scale soil organic carbon dynamics journal April 2019
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Organic carbon decomposition rates with depth and contribution of inorganic carbon to CO 2 emissions under a Mediterranean agroforestry system journal December 2019
Digging deeper: A holistic perspective of factors affecting soil organic carbon sequestration in agroecosystems journal March 2018
Pathways of mineral‐associated soil organic matter formation: Integrating the role of plant carbon source, chemistry, and point of entry journal November 2018
Global environmental changes impact soil hydraulic functions through biophysical feedbacks journal April 2019
Nitrate addition stimulates microbial decomposition of organic matter in salt marsh sediments journal July 2019
Conceptualizing soil organic matter into particulate and mineral‐associated forms to address global change in the 21st century journal November 2019
Orchid seed sensitivity to nitrate reflects habitat preferences and soil nitrate content journal October 2019
A unified approach for including non-extractable residues (NER) of chemicals and pesticides in the assessment of persistence journal December 2018
Transient O2 pulses direct Fe crystallinity and Fe(III)-reducer gene expression within a soil microbiome journal October 2018
Soil CO 2 and O 2 Concentrations Illuminate the Relative Importance of Weathering and Respiration to Seasonal Soil Gas Fluctuations journal July 2019
Emergent Properties of Microbial Activity in Heterogeneous Soil Microenvironments: Different Research Approaches Are Slowly Converging, Yet Major Challenges Remain journal August 2018
Water Table Dynamics Control Carbon Losses from the Destabilization of Soil Organic Matter in a Small, Lowland Agricultural Catchment journal December 2019
On-farm study reveals positive relationship between gas transport capacity and organic carbon content in arable soil text January 2019
Temperature and moisture are minor drivers of regional-scale soil organic carbon dynamics text January 2019
On-farm study reveals positive relationship between gas transport capacity and organic carbon content in arable soil text January 2019
Shifting mineral and redox controls on carbon cycling in seasonally flooded mineral soils journal January 2019
Physical constraints for respiration in microbial hotspots in soil and their importance for denitrification journal January 2019
Geomorphic regulation of floodplain soil organic carbon concentration in watersheds of the Rocky and Cascade Mountains, USA posted_content April 2018
On-farm study reveals positive relationship between gas transport capacity and organic carbon content in arable soil journal January 2019

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