Distinct Assembly Processes and Microbial Communities Constrain Soil Organic Carbon Formation

Open access
Author
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Date
2020-04-24Type
- Review Article
Citations
Cited 35 times in
Web of Science
Cited 37 times in
Scopus
ETH Bibliography
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Abstract
Soil stores more carbon (C) than all vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Soil C stocks are broadly shaped by temperature, moisture, soil physical characteristics, vegetation, and microbial-mediated metabolic processes. The efficiency with which microorganisms use soil C regulates the balance between C storage in soil and the atmosphere. In this review, we discuss how microbial physiology and community assembly processes determine microbial growth rate and efficiency and, in turn, soil organic C cycling through the lens of community ecology. We introduce a conceptual framework cataloging life history (i.e., growth rate, resource acquisition, and stress tolerance) and assembly traits (i.e., competition, facilitation, and dispersal) that correspond with different growth efficiencies. We also compare how dominant mycorrhizal fungal type affects growth efficiency. We propose that further development and inclusion of specific community parameters in microbial-explicit Earth system models are needed for accurately predicting soil organic C responses to global change. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000450970Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
One EarthVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
Cell PressSubject
carbon sequestration; carbon use efficiency; growth efficiency; microbial physiology; soil organic matterOrganisational unit
09625 - Crowther, Thomas Ward / Crowther, Thomas Ward
Funding
179900 - Alternative stable states of the forest microbiome: causes and carbon-climate consequences of forest mycorrhizal game interactions (SNF)
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Show all metadata
Citations
Cited 35 times in
Web of Science
Cited 37 times in
Scopus
ETH Bibliography
yes
Altmetrics