| Title | Microbial Functional Responses Explain Alpine Soil Carbon Fluxes under Future Climate Scenarios |
| Authors | Qi, Qi Haowei, Yue Zhang, Zhenhua Van Nostrand, Joy D. Wu, Linwei Guo, Xue Feng, Jiajie Wang, Mengmeng Yang, Sihang Zhao, Jianshu Gao, Qun Zhang, Qiuting Zhao, Mengxin Xie, Changyi Ma, Zhiyuan He, Jin-Sheng Chu, Haiyan Huang, Yi Zhou, Jizhong Yang, Yunfeng |
| Affiliation | Tsinghua Univ, Sch Environm, State Key Joint Lab Environm Simulat & Pollut Con, Beijing, Peoples R China Ecol Environm Bur, Shenzhen, Peoples R China Chinese Acad Sci, Northwest Inst Plateau Biol, Key Lab Adaptat & Evolut Plateau Biota, Xining, Peoples R China Univ Oklahoma, Inst Environm Genom, Dept Microbiol & Plant Biol, Norman, OK 73019 USA Univ Oklahoma, Sch Civil Engn & Environm Sci, Norman, OK 73019 USA South China Normal Univ, Sch Life Sci, Guangzhou, Peoples R China Tsinghua Univ, Beijing Key Lab City Integrated Emergency Respons, Inst Publ Safety Res, Dept Engn Phys, Beijing, Peoples R China Peking Univ, Coll Urban & Environm Sci, Dept Ecol, Beijing, Peoples R China Peking Univ, Minist Educ, Key Lab Earth Surface Proc, Beijing, Peoples R China Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Soil Sci, State Key Lab Soil & Sustainable Agr, Nanjing, Peoples R China Peking Univ, Coll Environm Sci & Engn, State Key Joint Lab Environm Simulat & Pollut Con, Beijing, Peoples R China Lawrence Berkeley Natl Lab, Earth & Environm Sci Div, Berkeley, CA USA |
| Keywords | ECOSYSTEM MULTIFUNCTIONALITY TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE RESPIRATION PRECIPITATION AVAILABILITY MOISTURE DECOMPOSITION COMMUNITIES LIFE |
| Issue Date | Jan-2021 |
| Publisher | MBIO |
| Abstract | Soil microorganisms are sensitive to temperature in cold ecosystems, but it remains unclear how microbial responses are modulated by other important climate drivers, such as precipitation changes. Here, we examine the effects of six in situ warming and/or precipitation treatments in alpine grasslands on microbial communities, plants, and soil carbon fluxes. These treatments differentially affected soil carbon fluxes, gross primary production, and microbial communities. Variations of soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes across all sites significantly (r> 0.70, P < 0.050) correlated with relevant microbial functional abundances but not bacterial or fungal abundances. Given tight linkages between microbial functional traits and ecosystem functionality, we conclude that future soil carbon fluxes in alpine grasslands can be predicted by microbial carbon-degrading capacities. IMPORTANCE The warming pace in the Tibetan Plateau, which is predominantly occupied by grassland ecosystems, has been 0.2 degrees C per decade in recent years, dwarfing the rate of global warming by a factor of 2. Many Earth system models project substantial carbon sequestration in Tibet, which has been observed. Here, we analyzed microbial communities under projected climate changes by 2100. As the soil "carbon pump," the growth and activity of microorganisms can largely influence soil carbon dynamics. However, microbial gene response to future climate scenarios is still obscure. We showed that the abundances of microbial functional genes, but not microbial taxonomy, were correlated with carbon fluxes and ecosystem multifunctionality. By identifying microbial traits linking to ecosystem functioning, our results can guide the assessment of future soil carbon fluxes in alpine grasslands, a critical step toward mitigating climate changes. |
| URI | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11897/618803 |
| ISSN | 2150-7511 |
| DOI | 10.1128/mBio.00761-20 |
| Indexed | SCI(E) |
| Appears in Collections: | 城市与环境学院 地表过程分析与模拟教育部重点实验室 环境科学与工程学院 环境模拟与污染控制国家重点联合实验室 |
