Lignin is an abundant and complex plant polymer that may limit litter decomposition, yet lignin is sometimes a minor constituent of soil organic carbon (SOC). Accounting for diversity in soil characteristics might reconcile this apparent contradiction. Tracking decomposition of a lignin/litter mixture and SOC across different North American mineral soils using lab and field incubations, here we show that cumulative lignin decomposition varies 18-fold among soils and is strongly correlated with bulk litter decomposition, but not SOC decomposition. Climate legacy predicts decomposition in the lab, and impacts of nitrogen availability are minor compared with geochemical and microbial properties. Lignin decomposition increases with some metals and fungal taxa, whereas SOC decomposition decreases with metals and is weakly related with fungi. Decoupling of lignin and SOC decomposition and their contrasting biogeochemical drivers indicate that lignin is not necessarily a bottleneck for SOC decomposition and can explain variable contributions of lignin to SOC among ecosystems.
Huang, Wenjuan, et al. "Contrasting geochemical and fungal controls on decomposition of lignin and soil carbon at continental scale." Nature Communications, vol. 14, no. 1, Apr. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37862-6
Huang, Wenjuan, Yu, Wenjuan, Yi, Bo, Raman, Erik, Yang, Jihoon, Hammel, Kenneth E., Timokhin, Vitaliy I., Lu, Chaoqun, Howe, Adina, Weintraub-Leff, Samantha R., & Hall, Steven J. (2023). Contrasting geochemical and fungal controls on decomposition of lignin and soil carbon at continental scale. Nature Communications, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37862-6
Huang, Wenjuan, Yu, Wenjuan, Yi, Bo, et al., "Contrasting geochemical and fungal controls on decomposition of lignin and soil carbon at continental scale," Nature Communications 14, no. 1 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37862-6
@article{osti_2418900,
author = {Huang, Wenjuan and Yu, Wenjuan and Yi, Bo and Raman, Erik and Yang, Jihoon and Hammel, Kenneth E. and Timokhin, Vitaliy I. and Lu, Chaoqun and Howe, Adina and Weintraub-Leff, Samantha R. and others},
title = {Contrasting geochemical and fungal controls on decomposition of lignin and soil carbon at continental scale},
annote = {Lignin is an abundant and complex plant polymer that may limit litter decomposition, yet lignin is sometimes a minor constituent of soil organic carbon (SOC). Accounting for diversity in soil characteristics might reconcile this apparent contradiction. Tracking decomposition of a lignin/litter mixture and SOC across different North American mineral soils using lab and field incubations, here we show that cumulative lignin decomposition varies 18-fold among soils and is strongly correlated with bulk litter decomposition, but not SOC decomposition. Climate legacy predicts decomposition in the lab, and impacts of nitrogen availability are minor compared with geochemical and microbial properties. Lignin decomposition increases with some metals and fungal taxa, whereas SOC decomposition decreases with metals and is weakly related with fungi. Decoupling of lignin and SOC decomposition and their contrasting biogeochemical drivers indicate that lignin is not necessarily a bottleneck for SOC decomposition and can explain variable contributions of lignin to SOC among ecosystems.},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-37862-6},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/2418900},
journal = {Nature Communications},
issn = {ISSN 2041-1723},
number = {1},
volume = {14},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
year = {2023},
month = {04}}