Soil C and N availability determine the priming effect: microbial N mining and stoichiometric decomposition theories
By Ruirui Chen, M. Senbayram, S. Blagodatsky, O. Myachina, K. Dittert, Xiangui Lin, E. Blagodatskaya, Y. Kuzyakov. Global Change Biology, 2014
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The increasing input of anthropogenically derived nitrogen (N) to ecosystems raises a crucial question: how does available N modify the decomposer community and thus affects the mineralization of soil organic matter (SOM). Moreover, N input modifies the priming effect (PE), that is, the effect of fresh organics on the microbial decomposition of SOM. We studied the interactive effects of C and N on SOM mineralization (by natural 13C labelling adding C4‐sucrose or C4‐maize straw to C3‐soil) in relation to microbial growth kinetics and to the activities of five hydrolytic enzymes. This encompasses the groups of parameters governing two mechanisms of priming effects – microbial N mining and stoichiometric decomposition theories. In sole C treatments, positive PE was accompanied by a decrease in specific microbial growth rates, confirming a greater contribution of K‐strategists to the decomposition of native SOM. Sucrose addition with N significantly accelerated mineralization of native SOM, whereas mineral N added with plant residues accelerated decomposition of plant residues. This supports the microbial mining theory in terms of N limitation. Sucrose addition with N was accompanied by accelerated microbial growth, increased activities of β‐glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase, and decreased activities of xylanase and leucine amino peptidase. This indicated an increased contribution of r‐strategists to the PE and to decomposition of cellulose but the decreased hemicellulolytic and proteolytic activities. Thus, the acceleration of the C cycle was primed by exogenous organic C and was controlled by N. This confirms the stoichiometric decomposition theory. Both K‐ and r‐strategists were beneficial for priming effects, with an increasing contribution of K‐selected species under N limitation. Thus, the priming phenomenon described in ‘microbial N mining’ theory can be ascribed to K‐strategists. In contrast, ‘stoichiometric decomposition’ theory, that is, accelerated OM mineralization due to balanced microbial growth, is explained by domination of r‐strategists.
Subfields: Environmental Engineering, Plant Science, Soil Science
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/901b912f1bcecc765bacd62d1540386ab4270e88
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Citations in the corpus
- Organic Manure Coupled with Inorganic Fertilizer: An Approach for the Sustainable Production of Rice by Improving Soil Properties and Nitrogen Use Efficiency (2019, background): “Moreover, sole mineral fertilization enhances the decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), which leads to degraded soil structure and declined soil aggregation and loss of nutrients through leaching, fixation, and greenhouse gases emission [11,12].”
- Plant intraspecific variation modulates nutrient cycling through its below ground rhizospheric microbiome (2019, background): “Previous studies have demonstrated that labile C inputs to the soil, such as root exudates, result in a priming effect (Högberg & Ekblad, 1996; Keiluweit et al., 2015) and that high N availability stimulates cellulose degrading enzymes (Chen et al., 2014; Sinsabaugh, Carreiro, & Repert, 2002).”
- Root exudates increase N availability by stimulating microbial turnover of fast-cycling N pools (2017, neutral): “…2008; Guenet et al., 2010; Paterson and Sim, 2013; Sullivan and Hart, 2013), but contrasting results have been found as well (Hoosbeek et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2014; Chowdhury et al., 2014), which may be partly due to the stoichiometry of substrates and microbial demand for substrates (Craine et…”