Soil types heavily influence ecological dynamics. It remains controversial to what extent soil types shape microbial responses to land management changes, largely due to lack of in-depth comparison across various soil types. Here, we collected samples from three major zonal soil types spanning from cold temperate to subtropical climate zones. We examined bacterial and fungal community structure...

The measurement of soil carbon dioxide respiration is a means to gauge biological soil fertility. Test methods for respiration employed in the laboratory vary somewhat, and to date the equipment and labor required have somewhat limited more widespread adoption of such methodologies. The purpose of this research is to compare the results of measured soil CO2 respiration using three methods: (1) ...

We used a 93-year-old mine waste contamination gradient in alluvial soil to explore the relationship between ecosystem level functioning and community structure in a chronically stressed ecosystem. The sensitivity of broad functional parameters (in situ soil respiration, microbial biomass, above and below ground plant biomass) and microbial diversity [phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) abundance an...

Carbon (C) allocation strongly influences plant and soil processes. Short-term C allocation dynamics in ecosystems and their responses to environmental changes are still poorly understood. Using in situ (13) CO(2) pulse labeling, we studied the effects of 1 wk of shading on the transfer of recent photoassimilates between sugars and starch of above- and belowground plant organs and to soil micro...

Most of the upper layer of the earth’s terrestrial crust is or has been influenced by plant roots, so most soil is actually rhizosphere soil at one time or another. Through their physical, chemical, and biological interactions with the soil, roots play a major role in soil formation (Jenny, 1941) and soil function (Wardle et al., 2004). Microbes factor prominently in global nutrient and energy ...

Beet vinasse (BV), a green manure constituted by Trifolium pratense L. uncomposted (TP) and composted with beet vinasse (at 1:1 rate, (TP+BV)1, and 2:1 rate, (TP+BV)2) at 10t organic matter ha(-1) rate were applied during a period of four years for purpose of restoration of a Xelloric Calciorthid located near Seville (Guadalquivir Valley, Andalusia, Spain). The effect on the plant cover, soil p...

The effects of biochar application to calcareous soils are not well documented. In a laboratory incubation study, a hardwood-based, fast pyrolysis biochar was applied (0, 1, 2, and 10% by weight) to a calcareous soil. Changes in soil chemistry, water content, microbial respiration, and microbial community structure were monitored over a 12-mo period. Increasing the biochar application rate incr...

Rising temperatures are expected to reduce global soil carbon 1 (C) stocks, driving a positive feedback to climate change1–3. 2 However, the mechanisms underlying this prediction are not 3 well understood, including how temperature a ects microbial 4 enzyme kinetics, growth e ciency (MGE), and turnover4,5. 5 Here, in a laboratory study, we show that microbial turnover 6 accelerates with warming...

Arctic landscapes are characterized by a diversity of ecosystems, which differ in plant species composition, litter biochemistry, and biogeochemical cycling rates. Tundra ecosystems differing in plant composition should contain compositionally and functionally distinct microbial communities that differentially transform dissolved organic matter as it moves downslope from dry, upland to wet, low...

This study reports the effects of long-term elevated atmospheric CO2 on root production and microbial activity, biomass, and diversity in a chaparral ecosystem in southern California. The free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) ring was located in a stand dominated by the woody shrub Adenostoma fasciculatum. Between 1995 and 2003, the FACE ring maintained an average daytime atmospheric CO2 concentration...