Article
Agronomy
Chengyu Xu, Yulin Li, Xue Hu, Qian Zang, Hengyang Zhuang, Lifen Huang
Summary: Organic cultivation improves soil physicochemical properties, enhances soil enzyme activity, and alters soil microbial diversity and bacterial abundance compared to conventional cultivation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Stanislaw Malek, Rafal Wazny, Ewa Blonska, Michal Jasik, Jaroslaw Lasota
Summary: The study found that mineral fertilization, particularly using dolomite, can improve soil nutrient supply and shape the biological activity expressed by the enzymatic activity of forest soils. In addition, soil fertilized with dolomite had the highest plant biomass, enzymatic activity, and fungal taxonomic units compared to unfertilized soil. The results support the use of mineral fertilization to enhance forest soil properties.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Zhongqing Yan, Enze Kang, Kerou Zhang, Yong Li, Yanbin Hao, Haidong Wu, Meng Li, Xiaodong Zhang, Jinzhi Wang, Liang Yan, Xiaoming Kang
Summary: This study highlights the important roles of plant and soil extracellular enzyme activities in regulating the different responses of ecosystem respiration (Re) and soil respiration (Rs) under extreme drought events in alpine regions.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Concepcion Sanchez-Cid, Romie Tignat-Perrier, Laure Franqueville, Laurence Delauriere, Trista Schagat, Timothy M. Vogel
Summary: Next-generation sequencing techniques have increased our understanding of the soil microbiome, but there are biases in each step of soil metagenomics that affect the accurate definition of the microbiome and its function. This study compared the effects of DNA extraction and sequencing depth on bacterial richness discovery in soil samples. The results showed that sequencing depth had a greater influence on bacterial richness discovery at both the taxonomical and functional levels. Optimizing the soil metagenomics workflow is necessary to improve the accuracy of metagenomic comparisons and soil microbiome profiles.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yiping Zuo, Hongjin Zhang, Jianping Li, Xiaodong Yao, Xinyue Chen, Hui Zeng, Wei Wang
Summary: This study measured the Q(10) of soil extracellular enzyme activity in Chinese grasslands at different depths and elevations, finding that the Q(10) of LAP was higher than that of BG and AP, and varied with elevation. The study improved understanding of the vertical pattern of Q(10) in water-limited ecosystems.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Moritz Hallama, Carola Pekrun, Paula Mayer-Gruner, Marie Uksa, Yulduz Abdullaeva, Stefan Pilz, Michael Schloter, Hans Lambers, Ellen Kandeler
Summary: This study provides new insights into plant-microbe interactions and phosphorus availability by investigating the phosphorus cycling in cover crops and the enzyme availability of organic phosphorus pools in the rhizosheath soil.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jin Fang, Yineng Weng, Beier Li, Huijun Liu, Lijuan Liu, Zhongling Tian, Shaoting Du
Summary: Graphene oxide (GO) release into the environment can significantly reduce soil microbial biomass and diversity, decrease the abundance of nitrogen transformation related bacteria, and reduce the activity of nitrogen transformation related enzymes. It also leads to lower levels of ammonium and nitrate in the soil. The effects of multilayer GO on these processes are more significant than those of single layer GO.
Article
Ecology
Maria Florencia Dominchin, Romina Aylen Verdenelli, Micaela Gisell Berger, Antonio Aoki, Jose Manuel Meriles
Summary: The combined application of peanut biochar and urea is found to have significant effects on soil microbial community structure and function, with biochar and management practices playing a more crucial role than urea. The study suggests that biochar addition, especially at higher rates, can enhance enzyme activities related to macronutrients and increase certain bacterial and fungal populations in soil. Additionally, the application of urea also increased urease activity, showing a positive correlation with fungal biomass. The research indicates that combining biochar and urea under appropriate soil management practices may be a viable strategy for improving soil microbial quality.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yupeng Zhang, Shuilian Yang, Jiale Yang, Zhenguo Wu, Hongen Liu, Zhaojun Nie, Jianhua Qu, Yisheng Hu, Yizhen Shao, Jianing Liu, Fengqin Liu, Dangling Hua
Summary: In this study, a novel perspective of hormesis was proposed to explain the temporal hormetic response of soil enzymes and microbes, as well as the variation of soil physicochemical properties. The hormetic response to exogenous Cd was highly generalizable with stimulation of soil enzymatic and microbial activities at a dosage of 0.5 mg•kg-1, but inhibition at higher dosages. However, the response disappeared after incubation for >10 days.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Mengjun Hu, Jiali Wang, Longlong Lu, Haoran Gui, Shiqiang Wan
Summary: Fire decreases fungal biomass, microbial biomass carbon, soil respiration, autotrophic respiration, and C acquisition enzymes. The recovery times of microbial biomass and functional groups are shorter than those of soil C emissions and extracellular enzymes. Climate and fire severity, type, and ecosystem type play important roles in regulating the postfire recovery of the soil microbial community and functioning.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Honghong Lin, Xingwu Duan, Yifan Dong, Ronghua Zhong, Li Rong, Jiangcheng Huang
Summary: Environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau have led to a decrease in soil water-holding capacity, particularly in the topsoil. This decrease in soil productivity exacerbates vegetation degradation and increases the vulnerability of the alpine ecosystem.
Article
Soil Science
Parag Bhople, Katharina Keiblinger, Ika Djukic, Dong Liu, Franz Zehetner, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Rainer Georg Joergensen, Rajasekaran Murugan
Summary: The study found that the contribution of microbial necromass to soil organic carbon varies along elevational gradients and soil types, with fungi dominating the microbial necromass. The alkaline site showed lower microbial necromass contribution compared to the acidic site, possibly due to nitrogen limitation and hindered plant residue decomposition speed.
Article
Soil Science
Rui Cao, Wanqin Yang, Chenhui Chang, Zhuang Wang, Qin Wang, Han Li, Bo Tan
Summary: The study found that subalpine and alpine forests had higher soil enzyme activity, while dry valley shrubland and valley-mountain ecotone forest had lower activity. As altitude increased, the seasonal sensitivity of soil enzyme activity decreased.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Rui-Zhe Wang, Xia Hu
Summary: Soils in alpine ecosystems are significant carbon sinks, with soil aggregates and their pore structure playing a crucial role in carbon sequestration. This study examined the soil pore structure, carbon content, and their relationships in three typical alpine ecosystems in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results revealed the dominance of small macroaggregates and microspores in the soil aggregates, as well as the correlation between carbon content and pore characteristics. Additionally, the study highlighted the impact of soil water content and particle compositions on soil organic carbon in different alpine ecosystems.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Huimin Zhou, Xiaoying Li, Chang Li, Lisi He, Xiaoqing Liu, Zheng Xiao, Xiaobo Sun, Gaoling Shi, Jiale Su, Junhui Chen
Summary: The research showed that biochar produced at low temperature can promote azalea growth and improve soil quality by increasing nutrient content and microbial activity in the rhizosphere soil.
Article
Plant Sciences
Qiufang Zhang, Jiguang Feng, Jian Li, Ching-Yu Huang, Yawen Shen, Weixin Cheng, Biao Zhu
Summary: This study combines two experiments and a meta-analysis to investigate the priming effect (PE) of soil organic carbon (SOC) and its relationship with SOC stability. The results show that the PE increases with the prolongation of soil preincubation, indicating that stable SOC is more vulnerable to PE compared to labile SOC. The meta-analysis supports this finding and reveals that soil C availability plays a crucial role in regulating the difference in PE between labile and stable SOC. These findings highlight the importance of considering the vulnerability of stable SOC to priming in future studies on SOC cycling and global change.
Article
Ecology
Lijuan Sun, Yuki Tsujii, Tianle Xu, Mengguang Han, Rui Li, Yunfeng Han, Dayong Gan, Biao Zhu
Summary: Tree roots have both positive and negative effects on microbial decomposition and nutrient availability in the surrounding soils. These effects vary among species and depend on the specific nutrient cycling in the bulk soils. The understanding of these rhizosphere effects is important for understanding plant adaptation and coexistence with other species.
Article
Agronomy
Wenkuan Qin, Yonghui Wang, Xia Yuan, Qiufang Zhang, Xudong Wang, Hongyang Zhao, Biao Zhu
Summary: This study investigated the responses and mechanisms of soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition and accumulation to precipitation and land-use in an Inner Mongolian grassland. The results showed that increased precipitation led to higher SOC accumulation, while decreased precipitation resulted in increased SOC decomposition. Compared to land-use regimes, precipitation treatments had a more significant impact on SOC dynamics.
Article
Soil Science
Ying Chen, Mengguang Han, Xia Yuan, Huakun Zhou, Xinquan Zhao, Joshua P. Schimel, Biao Zhu
Summary: Soils in alpine ecosystems store a large amount of carbon. Long-term warming has been found to lead to significant loss of surface soil carbon (mostly in the mineral-associated heavy fraction) in an alpine shrubland. This loss is likely due to the suppression of the microbial (particularly fungal) pathway to soil carbon formation and/or stimulating the utilization of stable soil carbon (i.e. heavy fraction) by microbes.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Jungang Chen, Biao Zhu, Yunhai Zhang
Summary: The overuse of antibiotics has caused serious concerns worldwide as it may lead to significant changes in soil microbial communities, thereby threatening soil ecosystems. However, the effects of antibiotics on soil microbial biomass and community structure on a global scale are still unclear. Using 66 paired observations, we conducted one of the first global meta-analyses to evaluate the effects of various antibiotics on soil microbial communities and explore the underlying mechanisms. Our findings show that antibiotics suppressed soil microbial biomass, bacterial biomass, and fungal biomass, with the ratio of bacteria to fungi biomass decreasing for all antibiotic types. The negative effects of antibiotics on soil microbial community and bacteria biomass diminished over time, and the response of bacteria biomass to antibiotics varied with latitude, regulated by temperature, precipitation, soil pH, and total nitrogen.
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Peng Tian, Shengen Liu, Biao Zhu, Qingkui Wang
Summary: By conducting a laboratory experiment and a meta-analysis, this study investigated the priming effect (PE) of soil organic matter mineralization and its response to nitrogen (N) amendment in temperate forests in China and across global forests. The study found weak dependence of PE on latitude and mean annual temperature in Chinese temperate forests, but significant dependence of PE on mean annual temperature across global forests. Soil pH was shown to control the geographic patterns of PE. The study also revealed the inhibitory effect of N addition on PE in both the laboratory experiment and the meta-analysis, with a negative correlation between N inhibition effect and mean annual temperature in the laboratory experiment.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yongxing Cui, Shushi Peng, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Matthias C. Rillig, Cesar Terrer, Biao Zhu, Xin Jing, Ji Chen, Jinquan Li, Jiao Feng, Yue He, Linchuan Fang, Daryl L. Moorhead, Robert L. Sinsabaugh, Josep Penuelas
Summary: This study provides the first global estimates of soil microbial carbon limitation, challenging the conventional hypothesis of ubiquitous C limitation. It also highlights the importance of plant litter as a dominant carbon source for microbial acquisition and the significant influence of latitudinal patterns on predicted carbon limitation.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xiaohong Wang, Shiyining Li, Biao Zhu, Peter M. Homyak, Guangshui Chen, Xiaodong Yao, Dongmei Wu, Zhijie Yang, Maokui Lyu, Yusheng Yang
Summary: The effects of nitrogen deposition on the soil priming effect in tropical forests are dependent on the availability of phosphorus. Nitrogen deposition enhances phosphorus limitation, inhibiting the soil priming effect. However, the addition of phosphorus can partially reverse this inhibition, especially for cellulose.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jiguang Feng, Yanjun Song, Biao Zhu
Summary: Phosphorus deposition can stimulate plant carbon inputs and microbial carbon outputs. The effects of P enrichment on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. A meta-analysis of 642 SOC observations from 213 P addition experiments worldwide revealed that P addition increased SOC by 4.0%, mainly in forest and cropland. The response of SOC was correlated with aboveground plant biomass rather than belowground biomass, and factors such as plant N fixation status and mean annual temperature were important predictors for SOC responses to P addition.
Article
Soil Science
Xudong Wang, Jiguang Feng, Gukailin Ao, Wenkuan Qin, Mengguang Han, Yawen Shen, Mengli Liu, Ying Chen, Biao Zhu
Summary: Globally increasing nitrogen deposition is recognized as an important regulator of soil microbial communities. Our meta-analysis of a global dataset revealed that N addition significantly reduced soil bacterial diversity, especially in cropland and with urea addition. However, there was no significant effect on fungal diversity or microbial richness. N addition did shift microbial community structure, likely due to microbial adaptation to N-excess, but had no significant effect on beta-diversity. Soil pH was identified as the most important factor regulating the responses of soil bacterial diversity and richness to N addition.
SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Tianle Xu, Yawen Shen, Zongju Ding, Biao Zhu
Summary: Microbial communities play a crucial role in regulating soil carbon and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. Understanding the seasonal variations of microbial diversity and composition in rhizosphere and bulk soils is important for further understanding the carbon and nutrient cycling in temperate forest ecosystems.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wenkuan Qin, Ying Chen, Xudong Wang, Hongyang Zhao, Yanhui Hou, Qiufang Zhang, Xiaowei Guo, Zhenhua Zhang, Biao Zhu
Summary: The structure and function of plant communities in alpine meadow ecosystems are influenced by climate warming, as shown in a field manipulation experiment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The experiment revealed that plant species diversity, biomass, and net primary productivity generally resisted warming, but plant community composition gradually changed. Legumes' biomass significantly decreased by 45%, while forbs' biomass increased by 84% due to favorable growth conditions. Overall, short-term warming can affect plant community composition by altering interspecific competition and survival strategies, leading to changes in plant productivity and carbon dynamics in alpine meadow ecosystems.
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Rui Yin, Wenkuan Qin, Xudong Wang, Hongyang Zhao, Zhenhua Zhang, Biao Zhu
Summary: This study examined the effects of temperature and invertebrate fauna on litter carbon and nutrient turnover in alpine meadows. The results showed that warming increased litter cellulose degradation and the presence of invertebrate fauna led to higher loss of nitrogen and lignin from litter. The release rates of all litter chemical components were faster in the warm season. These findings highlight the importance of considering the role of invertebrate fauna in litter decay patterns and the potential impacts on carbon and nutrient cycling in alpine ecosystems under ongoing warming.
Article
Soil Science
Yongxiang Yu, Juan Wang, Xinhui Liu, Danni Wang, Tida Ge, Yaying Li, Biao Zhu, Huaiying Yao
Summary: Biodegradable microplastics have the potential to affect the loss of soil inorganic carbon in calcareous soils. The presence of biodegradable microplastics inhibited the release of CO2 from 13C-labeled carbonate, and showed correlations with soil pH and certain microbial functional genes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Qiufang Zhang, Wenkuan Qin, Jiguang Feng, Xiaojie Li, Zhenhua Zhang, Jin-Sheng He, Joshua P. Schimel, Biao Zhu
Summary: The paucity of investigations on carbon dynamics in soils with warming makes it difficult to evaluate the feedback of terrestrial carbon to climate change. In this study, the researchers examined microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) in an alpine grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and found that CUE decreased with soil depth, primarily controlled by soil carbon availability. However, experimental warming had limited effects on microbial CUE and soil carbon availability.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)