Soil aggregates are critical to soil functionality, but there remain many uncertainties with respect to the role of biotic factors in forming aggregates. Understanding the interacting effects of soil, land use type, vegetation and microbial communities is a major challenge that needs assessment in both field and controlled laboratory conditions, as well as in bulk and rhizosphere soils. To address

Biochars generally result in short-term positive priming of native soil organic carbon (SOC), but longer-term carbon (C) stabilization, and these effects can be altered by global warming. However, uncertainty remains about the mechanisms associated with these priming effects, temperature sensitivity of native SOC, and microbial responses to biochars of differing properties. To address these knowledge

Gross ammonification (GA) and gross nitrification (GN) are key regulators of the bioavailability of nitrogen (N) in terrestrial ecosystems. In arid and semi-arid grassland ecosystems, the impacts of precipitation change on in situ GA and GN and their seasonal variations are understudied. A manipulative experiment with five precipitation levels (-60%, -30%, unchanged ambient precipitation as control

As the Arctic rapidly warms, deciduous ectomycorrhizal (EcM) shrubs are expanding across the tundra. While we know how EcM host plants respond to warming and the associated nutrient release predicted for a future Arctic, considerably less is known about how EcM function will respond, despite their important role in plant nutrient acquisition in the nutrient-limited tundra. To explore how EcM-associated

Ice-free areas are expanding on the Tibetan Plateau and in its surroundings, and these recently exposed lands are typically deficient in nitrogen (N). Free-living N fixation (FLNF) represents a vital source of N input, especially when symbiotic N-fixing plants are absent. However, we know little about how FLNF changes with ecosystem succession after glacier retreat. In 2018, we measured the potential

This study hypothesized that pyrolyzed manure pellet (biochar) reduces heterotrophic respiration and N2O emissions from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rhizosphere soil by affecting net and gross nitrogen (N) transformation rates and the effects differ between rhizosphere and bulk soils. The biochar significantly decreased heterotrophic respiration but not N2O emissions, while unpyrolyzed manure pellets

Little is known about the impacts of persistent triazine herbicides and biocides on soil microorganisms. Terbutryn toxicity in soil microorganisms was studied using bacterial and fungal growth, substrate induced respiration (SIR) and basal respiration as ecotoxicological end-points. In the short-term (0–7 days), increasing concentrations of terbutryn (0–800 mg kg−1) progressively inhibited bacterial

Symbiosis between the fungal endophyte Epichloë coenophiala naturally found in the cool season grass tall fescue (Lolium arundinacea (Schreb) Darbysh.) is thought to provide a competitive advantage over endophyte-free grasses when grown under nutrient-limited conditions. The mechanisms involved in the purported improvement in phosphorus (P) uptake due to endophyte infection are still not understood

Soil stability and aggregates are important drivers of soil fertility and microbial diversity and are highly vulnerable to land degradation. However, the role of soil aggregates in driving the responses of microbial functional diversity and multiple ecosystem services and functions (multifunctionality) to further degradation (e.g., fertilization) remains largely unexplored and poorly understood. In

Soil microbes play critical roles in re-establishing plant diversity and ecosystem functioning after disturbance events. However, the influence of deterministic and stochastic processes in shaping microbial community assembly during long-term ecosystem recovery are poorly understood. We characterized soil prokaryotic and fungal communities along two chronosequences ranging from early to later successional

The boreal forest is the single largest terrestrial store of carbon on Earth, and approximately a quarter of these carbon stocks are found in the forest floor. With climate change, vegetation shifts are expected in the boreal. In Western Canada, aspen-dominated stands will replace conifers. In this study, we investigated how these vegetation shifts could affect the composition and function of soil

Cyanobacteria are integral to soil development in the earliest stages of primary succession by fixing carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) essential for organismal growth. In this study, we examined soil cyanobacterial communities at the earliest stage of succession (<5 years) at two disparate glacial forefields to reveal cyanobacterial patterns central to ecosystem development. Despite vast differences in

Microbe-mediated arsenic (As) methylation is enhanced when paddy soils are flooded, producing primarily dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) that is phytotoxic and can induce rice straighthead disease. Thiolation of DMA produces methylated thioarsenate compounds such as di-methylated monothioarsenate (DMMTA) and di-methylated dithioarsenate (DMDTA), the former is highly toxic to humans. In the present study

Although Epichloë endophytes are present only in aboveground tissues of grasses they indirectly influence soil biological characteristics through increased litter incorporation and root exudation. Epichloë endophytes have been reported to affect the decomposition rates of litter by altering litter quality and microbial decomposers to affect soil characteristics. However, it is not well-studied that

Soil organisms play a major role on litter decomposition process and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. These organisms are extremely sensitive to environmental conditions such as soil temperature and moisture conditions which control their demographic parameters and activity. The ongoing climate change can therefore directly affect soil biota communities and the processes they drive. Besides,

Biological nitrogen fixation is an important process to reduce fertilizer application in agriculture ecosystem. However, with accelerated climate warming, it is still unknown how diazotrophs (nitrogen fixing microorganisms) succeed and assemble in long-term field-based experiment. By southward translocating arable Mollisols to a warm-temperate region for a decade to simulate changing climatic regimes

Deciduous shrub encroachment in tundra ecosystems affects the soil microclimate and, in turn, could affect soil nutrients and microbial processes. Although numerous effects of shrubs on tundra ecosystem properties have been described, there has been little focus on the mechanisms through which they impact tundra functioning. In alpine tundra of northern Canada, we examined 1) the effects of the living

Priming effect (PE) induced by inputs of fresh carbon plays crucial roles in soil organic matter decomposition and terrestrial carbon cycling. Priming effect is considered to be largely influenced by nutrient availability, but the global-scale patterns reflecting how nutrient addition affects PE and the controlling factors for such effects remain unclear. By conducting a meta-analysis of 355 observations

The term “Glomalin” was originally used to describe a hypothetical gene product of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that was assumed to be a nearly ubiquitous, thermostable and highly recalcitrant glycoprotein, deposited in soils in large amounts, and deemed to indicate soil health and quality. It was defined operationally as the fraction of soil organic matter (SOM) extractable by a hot citrate

Microbial inorganic nitrogen (N) immobilization is an important mechanism in the retention of N in soils. However, as a result of the high diversity and complexity of soil microorganisms, there is still no effective approach to measuring the respective immobilization rates of inorganic N by fungi and bacteria, which are the two dominant microbial communities in soils. We propose a mathematical framework

Healthy soils are critical to the health of ecosystems, economies, and human populations. Thus, it is widely acknowledged that soil health is important to quantify, both for assessment and as a tool to help guide management strategies. What is less clear is how soil health should actually be measured, especially considering that soil health is not exclusively a product of soil physical and chemical

Microorganisms interact in complex communities, affecting microbially-mediated processes in the environment. Particularly, aerobic methanotrophs showed significantly stimulated growth and activity in the presence of accompanying microorganisms in an interaction network (interactome). Yet, little is known of how the interactome responds to disturbances, and how community functioning is affected by the

The expansion of livestock production and agriculture is responsible for the increase of deforestation rates in the Amazon rainforest, with consequences to climate and micro and macro biodiversity. Although many studies have evaluated the effects of deforestation on the microbiome, its effect on the soil resistome remains unknown. Considering that antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are a threat to

The direction and magnitude of change of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks due to global warming depend strongly on the temperature sensitivity (e.g., Q10) of carbon mineralization. To date, most multi-pool SOC models assume a general Q10 of 2 despite experimental evidence suggesting different Q10 for different carbon fractions. The aim of this study was to test if the use of experimentally derived

Soil biodiversity loss due to pollution may affect ecosystem services negatively. This environmental problem may be solved by phytoremediation, which is an effective strategy to manage and remediate contaminated areas. During this remediation process, the establishment of plant communities may improve soil fungal community structure and, in particular, may favour mycorrhizal symbiotic associations

Testate amoebae contribute significantly to belowground ecological processes like nutrient cycling, but a decline in their nutrient cycling functions in peatlands is expected due to global climate warming. We studied the dynamics of testate amoebae communities in relation to soil environmental variables in a permafrost peatland that experienced in situ experimental warming for a 7-yr period. Experimental

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled with simultaneous consumption of nitrous oxide (N2O) has been recently reported, but the underlying coupling mechanism remains unclear. Here, we investigated N2O-mediated AOM in paddy soil under amendment of electron shuttles (anthraquinone-2,6-disulphonate and methylviologen). Sixty-day anaerobic incubation showed that N2O-mediated AOM occurred in paddy

Organic amendments can stimulate soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization and soil aggregation simultaneously, which can improve C sequestration and soil fertility. However, the microbial mechanism governing C mineralization at the aggregate level remains uncertain. Here, we investigate how long-term organic amendments change SOC mineralization via affecting the microbial community composition and

Tropical forest soils contain some of the largest carbon (C) stocks on Earth, yet the effects of warming on the fate of fresh C entering tropical soils are still poorly understood. This research sought to understand how the fate of fresh C entering soils is influenced by warming, soil weathering status, and C chemistry. We hypothesized that compounds that are quickly incorporated into microbial biomass

Microfluidic soil chips render optical access to the naturally opaque soil systems and enable direct investigation of microbial growth and interactions in micro-structurally and chemically controlled environments. However, chemical analyses of these interactions at high spatial and temporal resolution are still lacking. Here we propose that the use of advanced microspectroscopy techniques, namely infrared

The effect of climate change on peatlands is of great importance due to their large carbon stocks. In this study, we examined microbial biomass and effect of temperature and O2 availability on soil respiration of surface and subsurface Sphagnum peat. The interactive effect of biotic and abiotic factors significantly affects soil respiration. Increasing temperature enhanced the microbial respiratory

Mangrove ecosystems are important for carbon storage due to their high productivity and low decomposition rates. Waterways have experienced increased nutrient loads as a result of anthropogenic activities and it is unclear how this may affect carbon and nutrient cycles in downstream mangroves that receive these nutrient-rich waters. Using a laboratory-based incubation experiment, this study aimed to

PhoD harboring microorganisms are crucial for the regulation of soil phosphorus (P) cycling through the secretion of alkaline phosphomonoesterases and are also known to be sensitive to fertilizer inputs. However, the impacts of long-term mineral and organic fertilizer inputs on active phoD-harboring functional communities in soils remain largely unknown. In the present study, 18O-DNA-stable isotope

Nutrient losses due to leaching from agricultural soils can be substantial but, in some cases, soil microbes such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can buffer those losses. An important knowledge gap, however, is the extent to which climate change may affect AM fungal mediation of leaching via warming and drought. To investigate this, we grew lucerne (Medicago sativa) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)

Soil heterogeneity influences microbial access to substrates and creates habitats varying in substrate concentrations, thus leading to local variations in carbon (C) dynamics. Based on theoretical considerations, we expected that higher heterogeneity would decrease microbial activity. To test this hypothesis, we modified substrate spatial heterogeneity using 3D-printed cylinders with four compartments

Termite mounds are an important habitat for an enormous diversity of microorganisms. However, the microbial community assembly processes in termite mounds remain unresolved, which impeded our ability to predict the biological functions of these mound-associated microbiota under the global changes. Here we conducted a large-scale investigation in northern Australia to explore biogeographical patterns

Partitioning soil respiration (Rs) into heterotrophic (Rh) and autotrophic (Ra) compartments is an important first step in understanding the response of soil carbon flux to changes in climate. This is because Rh and Ra respond differently to changing environmental conditions. However, the methods currently used to partition Rs have high costs and large uncertainties. In this study, we developed a simple

Soil organic matter (SOM) represents an important terrestrial carbon reservoir in the biosphere, and microorganisms have been recognized as significant material contributors to the formation of SOM. However, the turnover of microbial biomass residues with respect to their detailed microbial food web remains elusive. To elucidate this turnover process, we traced the fate of Gram-negative (Gram−) microbial

A laboratory incubation study was conducted on a temperate grassland soil to quantify the main mineral nitrogen (N) transformation rates and pathways via a15N tracing approach. Soil samples were taken from a long-term phosphorus (P) trial to investigate the effects on gross N transformations under high and low phosphorus amendment. The soils were incubated over a 2-week period and treated with ammonium-nitrate

Biocrusts are ecosystem engineers providing vital functions and services on the Earth's land surface, while biocrust ecology in degraded karst landscapes has not yet been well understood. Herein, we aim to address this research gap by comparing the differences of soil nutrients, extracellular enzyme activities, and microbial communities between intact crusts and moss-free crusts in a degraded ecosystem