Convergence of microbial assimilations of soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur in terrestrial ecosystems

Xu, Xiaofeng; Hui, Dafeng; King, Anthony Wayne; Song, Xia; Thornton, Peter E.; Zhang, Lihua

doi:10.1038/srep17445

Title: Convergence of microbial assimilations of soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur in terrestrial ecosystems

Journal Article · 27 November 2015 · Scientific Reports

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17445 · OSTI ID:1241459

Xu, Xiaofeng ^[1]; Hui, Dafeng ^[2]; King, Anthony Wayne ^[3]; Song, Xia ^[4]; Thornton, Peter E. ^[3]; Zhang, Lihua ^[5]

Univ. of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); San Diego State Univ., San Diego, CA (United States)
Middle Tennessee State Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Univ. of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing (China)

How soil microbes assimilate carbon-C, nitrogen-N, phosphorus-P, and sulfur-S is fundamental for understanding nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. We compiled a global database of C, N, P, and S concentrations in soils and microbes and developed relationships between them by using a power function model. The C:N:P:S was estimated to be 287:17:1:0.8 for soils, and 42:6:1:0.4 for microbes. We found a convergence of the relationships between elements in soils and in soil microbial biomass across C, N, P, and S. The element concentrations in soil microbial biomass follow a homeostatic regulation curve with soil element concentrations across C, N, P and S, implying a unifying mechanism of microbial assimilating soil elements. This correlation explains the well-constrained C:N:P:S stoichiometry with a slightly larger variation in soils than in microbial biomass. Meanwhile, it is estimated that the minimum requirements of soil elements for soil microbes are 0.8 mmol C Kg^–1 dry soil, 0.1 mmol N Kg^–1 dry soil, 0.1 mmol P Kg^–1 dry soil, and 0.1 mmol S Kg^–1 dry soil, respectively. Lastly, these findings provide a mathematical explanation of element imbalance in soils and soil microbial biomass, and offer insights for incorporating microbial contribution to nutrient cycling into Earth system models.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1241459

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Vol. 5, Issue 3; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 30 works

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The impact of wildfire on microbial C:N:P stoichiometry and the fungal-to-bacterial ratio in permafrost soil Zhou, Xuan; Sun, Hui; Pumpanen, Jukka Biogeochemistry, Vol. 142, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0510-6	journal	October 2018
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Australian dryland soils are acidic and nutrient-depleted, and have unique microbial communities compared with other drylands Eldridge, David J.; Maestre, Fernando T.; Koen, Terry B. Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 45, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13456	journal	October 2018
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