Comparing soil microbial responses to drying-rewetting and freezing-thawing events
(2023) In Soil Biology and Biochemistry 178.- Abstract
Climate change is expected to alter the frequency and intensity of soil drying-rewetting (D/RW) and freezing-thawing (F/TW) events, with consequences for the activities of microorganisms. Although both D/RW and F/TW events cause respiration pulses from soil to the atmosphere, it remains unknown whether the underlying microbial control is similar. Recent work has revealed that soil microbial responses to D/RW vary between two extremes: (Type 1) a resilient response, with a fast recovery of growth rates associated with a brief respiration pulse, or (Type 2) a sensitive response, where growth rates recover only after a lag period of no apparent growth associated with a prolonged respiration pulse. However, it remains unknown if these... (More)
Climate change is expected to alter the frequency and intensity of soil drying-rewetting (D/RW) and freezing-thawing (F/TW) events, with consequences for the activities of microorganisms. Although both D/RW and F/TW events cause respiration pulses from soil to the atmosphere, it remains unknown whether the underlying microbial control is similar. Recent work has revealed that soil microbial responses to D/RW vary between two extremes: (Type 1) a resilient response, with a fast recovery of growth rates associated with a brief respiration pulse, or (Type 2) a sensitive response, where growth rates recover only after a lag period of no apparent growth associated with a prolonged respiration pulse. However, it remains unknown if these different microbial perturbation responses also occur after F/TW. Here, we directly compared microbial growth, respiration, and carbon-use efficiency (CUE) in response to D/RW and F/TW events. To do this, we selected two forest soils characterized by either sensitive or resilient responses to D/RW. We could confirm that D/RW induced either sensitive or resilient bacterial growth and respiration responses, but also that these distinct responses were found after F/TW. Additionally, F/TW resulted in shorter lag periods before the increase of bacterial growth, smaller respiration pulses, and lower levels of cumulative respiration, bacterial growth and fungal growth after the perturbation than did D/RW. These findings are consistent with a F/TW event imposing a similar stress on soil microorganisms to a D/RW event, but with lower severity. However, there was no significant difference in the microbial CUE between D/RW and F/TW, indicating that microorganisms maintain the stability of their C allocation in response to both types of perturbation. Altogether, our findings suggest that microbial communities are exposed to similar environmental pressures during D/RW and F/TW, implying that strategies to cope with drought can also provide protection to winter frost, and vice versa.
(Less)
- author
- Li, Jin-Tao LU ; Xu, Huimin LU ; Hicks, Lettice C. LU ; Brangarí, Albert C. LU and Rousk, Johannes LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-03
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Drought, Drying-rewetting, Extreme weather, Freezing-thawing, Ice melting, Microbial growth efficiency, Permafrost, Precipitation, Rain event, Wet-up
- in
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry
- volume
- 178
- article number
- 108966
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85147329471
- ISSN
- 0038-0717
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.108966
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: We thank Prof. Ming Nie for constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (grant nos. 2020-03858 , 2020–04083 ),the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant nos. KAW 2017.0171 , KAW 2022.0175 ), the Swedish Research Council Formas (grant nos. 2022–00672 , 2022–01478 ) and the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund . The research contributes to the strategic research area Biodiversity and Ecosystems in a Changing Climate (BECC) at Lund University . Jin-Tao Li acknowledges China Scholarship Council (CSC) for supporting a visiting Ph.D. program grant ( 202006100130 ). Funding Information: We thank Prof. Ming Nie for constructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet (grant nos. 2020-03858, 2020–04083),the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant nos. KAW 2017.0171, KAW 2022.0175), the Swedish Research Council Formas (grant nos. 2022–00672, 2022–01478) and the Royal Physiographic Society in Lund. The research contributes to the strategic research area Biodiversity and Ecosystems in a Changing Climate (BECC) at Lund University. Jin-Tao Li acknowledges China Scholarship Council (CSC) for supporting a visiting Ph.D. program grant (202006100130). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors
- id
- 964bb5a2-0e5e-4c7d-9649-5f12da523527
- date added to LUP
- 2023-02-12 20:39:56
- date last changed
- 2023-02-21 17:14:19
@article{964bb5a2-0e5e-4c7d-9649-5f12da523527,
abstract = {{<p>Climate change is expected to alter the frequency and intensity of soil drying-rewetting (D/RW) and freezing-thawing (F/TW) events, with consequences for the activities of microorganisms. Although both D/RW and F/TW events cause respiration pulses from soil to the atmosphere, it remains unknown whether the underlying microbial control is similar. Recent work has revealed that soil microbial responses to D/RW vary between two extremes: (Type 1) a resilient response, with a fast recovery of growth rates associated with a brief respiration pulse, or (Type 2) a sensitive response, where growth rates recover only after a lag period of no apparent growth associated with a prolonged respiration pulse. However, it remains unknown if these different microbial perturbation responses also occur after F/TW. Here, we directly compared microbial growth, respiration, and carbon-use efficiency (CUE) in response to D/RW and F/TW events. To do this, we selected two forest soils characterized by either sensitive or resilient responses to D/RW. We could confirm that D/RW induced either sensitive or resilient bacterial growth and respiration responses, but also that these distinct responses were found after F/TW. Additionally, F/TW resulted in shorter lag periods before the increase of bacterial growth, smaller respiration pulses, and lower levels of cumulative respiration, bacterial growth and fungal growth after the perturbation than did D/RW. These findings are consistent with a F/TW event imposing a similar stress on soil microorganisms to a D/RW event, but with lower severity. However, there was no significant difference in the microbial CUE between D/RW and F/TW, indicating that microorganisms maintain the stability of their C allocation in response to both types of perturbation. Altogether, our findings suggest that microbial communities are exposed to similar environmental pressures during D/RW and F/TW, implying that strategies to cope with drought can also provide protection to winter frost, and vice versa.</p>}},
author = {{Li, Jin-Tao and Xu, Huimin and Hicks, Lettice C. and Brangarí, Albert C. and Rousk, Johannes}},
issn = {{0038-0717}},
keywords = {{Drought; Drying-rewetting; Extreme weather; Freezing-thawing; Ice melting; Microbial growth efficiency; Permafrost; Precipitation; Rain event; Wet-up}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Soil Biology and Biochemistry}},
title = {{Comparing soil microbial responses to drying-rewetting and freezing-thawing events}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.108966}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2023.108966}},
volume = {{178}},
year = {{2023}},
}