Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Effects of soil frost on growth, composition and respiration of the soil microbial decomposer community

Haei, Mahsa ; Rousk, Johannes LU ; Ilstedt, Ulrik ; Oquist, Mats ; Bååth, Erland LU and Laudon, Hjalmar (2011) In Soil Biology & Biochemistry 43(10). p.2069-2077
Abstract
Most climate change scenarios predict that the variability of weather conditions will increase in coming decades. Hence, the frequency and intensity of freeze-thaw cycles in high-latitude regions are likely to increase, with concomitant effect on soil carbon biogeochemistry and associated microbial processes. To address this issue we sampled riparian soil from a Swedish boreal forest and applied treatments with variations in four factors related to soil freezing (temperature, treatment duration, soil water content and frequency of freeze-thaw cycles), at three levels in a laboratory experiment, using a Central Composite Face-centred (CCF) experimental design. We then measured bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in... (More)
Most climate change scenarios predict that the variability of weather conditions will increase in coming decades. Hence, the frequency and intensity of freeze-thaw cycles in high-latitude regions are likely to increase, with concomitant effect on soil carbon biogeochemistry and associated microbial processes. To address this issue we sampled riparian soil from a Swedish boreal forest and applied treatments with variations in four factors related to soil freezing (temperature, treatment duration, soil water content and frequency of freeze-thaw cycles), at three levels in a laboratory experiment, using a Central Composite Face-centred (CCF) experimental design. We then measured bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in ergosterol incorporation) growth, basal respiration, soil microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition, and concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Fungal growth was higher in soil exposed to freeze-thawing perturbations and freezing temperatures of -6 degrees C and -12 degrees C, than under more constant conditions (steady 0 degrees C). The opposite pattern was found for bacteria, resulting in an increasing fungal-to-bacterial growth ratio following more intensive winter conditions. Soil respiration increased with water content, decreased with treatment duration and appeared to mainly be driven by treatment-induced changes in the DOC concentration. There was a clear shift in the PLFA composition at 0 degrees C, compared with the two lower temperatures, with PLFA markers associated with fungi as well as a number of unsaturated PLFAs being relatively more common at 0 degrees C. Shifts in the PLFA pattern were consistent with those expected for phenotypic plasticity of the cell membrane to low temperatures. There were small declines in PLFA concentrations after freeze-thawing and with longer durations. However, the number of freeze-thaw events had no effect on the microbiological variables. The findings suggest that the higher frequency of freeze-thaw events predicted to follow the global warming will likely have a limited impact on soil microorganisms. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Bacterial growth, Fungal growth, Frost, Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), PLFA, Respiration
in
Soil Biology & Biochemistry
volume
43
issue
10
pages
2069 - 2077
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000295153300008
  • scopus:80051668235
ISSN
0038-0717
DOI
10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.06.005
project
Carbon drivers and microbial agents of soil respiration
Effect of environmental factors on fungal and bacterial growth in soil
Microbial carbon-use efficiency
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
93b7c9ff-0c25-456f-8e34-43b316f2428f (old id 2179768)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:02:26
date last changed
2022-03-06 03:28:32
@article{93b7c9ff-0c25-456f-8e34-43b316f2428f,
  abstract     = {{Most climate change scenarios predict that the variability of weather conditions will increase in coming decades. Hence, the frequency and intensity of freeze-thaw cycles in high-latitude regions are likely to increase, with concomitant effect on soil carbon biogeochemistry and associated microbial processes. To address this issue we sampled riparian soil from a Swedish boreal forest and applied treatments with variations in four factors related to soil freezing (temperature, treatment duration, soil water content and frequency of freeze-thaw cycles), at three levels in a laboratory experiment, using a Central Composite Face-centred (CCF) experimental design. We then measured bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in ergosterol incorporation) growth, basal respiration, soil microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition, and concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Fungal growth was higher in soil exposed to freeze-thawing perturbations and freezing temperatures of -6 degrees C and -12 degrees C, than under more constant conditions (steady 0 degrees C). The opposite pattern was found for bacteria, resulting in an increasing fungal-to-bacterial growth ratio following more intensive winter conditions. Soil respiration increased with water content, decreased with treatment duration and appeared to mainly be driven by treatment-induced changes in the DOC concentration. There was a clear shift in the PLFA composition at 0 degrees C, compared with the two lower temperatures, with PLFA markers associated with fungi as well as a number of unsaturated PLFAs being relatively more common at 0 degrees C. Shifts in the PLFA pattern were consistent with those expected for phenotypic plasticity of the cell membrane to low temperatures. There were small declines in PLFA concentrations after freeze-thawing and with longer durations. However, the number of freeze-thaw events had no effect on the microbiological variables. The findings suggest that the higher frequency of freeze-thaw events predicted to follow the global warming will likely have a limited impact on soil microorganisms. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Haei, Mahsa and Rousk, Johannes and Ilstedt, Ulrik and Oquist, Mats and Bååth, Erland and Laudon, Hjalmar}},
  issn         = {{0038-0717}},
  keywords     = {{Bacterial growth; Fungal growth; Frost; Dissolved organic carbon (DOC); PLFA; Respiration}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{2069--2077}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Soil Biology & Biochemistry}},
  title        = {{Effects of soil frost on growth, composition and respiration of the soil microbial decomposer community}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.06.005}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2011.06.005}},
  volume       = {{43}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}