Microbial carbon use efficiency: accounting for population, community, and ecosystem-scale controls over the fate of metabolized organic matter
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TLDR
A conceptual framework is proposed that structures the definition of CUE according to increasingly broad temporal and spatial drivers, and embodies an ecosystem perspective that fully captures all drivers of microbial biomass synthesis and decay.Abstract:
Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is a critical regulator of soil organic matter dynamics and terrestrial carbon fluxes, with strong implications for soil biogeochemistry models. While ecologists increasingly appreciate the importance of CUE, its core concepts remain ambiguous: terminology is inconsistent and confusing, methods capture variable temporal and spatial scales, and the significance of many fundamental drivers remains inconclusive. Here we outline the processes underlying microbial efficiency and propose a conceptual framework that structures the definition of CUE according to increasingly broad temporal and spatial drivers where (1) CUE
P
reflects population-scale carbon use efficiency of microbes governed by species-specific metabolic and thermodynamic constraints, (2) CUE
C
defines community-scale microbial efficiency as gross biomass production per unit substrate taken up over short time scales, largely excluding recycling of microbial necromass and exudates, and (3) CUE
E
reflects the ecosystem-scale efficiency of net microbial biomass production (growth) per unit substrate taken up as iterative breakdown and recycling of microbial products occurs. CUEE integrates all internal and extracellular constraints on CUE and hence embodies an ecosystem perspective that fully captures all drivers of microbial biomass synthesis and decay. These three definitions are distinct yet complementary, capturing the capacity for carbon storage in microbial biomass across different ecological scales. By unifying the existing concepts and terminology underlying microbial efficiency, our framework enhances data interpretation and theoretical advances.read more
Citations
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Direct evidence for microbial-derived soil organic matter formation and its ecophysiological controls
TL;DR: This work provides the first direct evidence that soil microbes produce chemically diverse, stable SOM, and shows that SOM accumulation is driven by distinct microbial communities more so than clay mineralogy, where microbial-derived Som accumulation is greatest in soils with higher fungal abundances and more efficient microbial biomass production.
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The Ecology of Soil Carbon: Pools, Vulnerabilities, and Biotic and Abiotic Controls
TL;DR: This analysis suggests root inputs are approximately five times more likely than an equivalent mass of aboveground litter to be stabilized as SOM, and that fungi and bacteria, and soil faunal food webs, and mineral associations drive stabilization at depths greater than ∼30 cm.
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Defining trait-based microbial strategies with consequences for soil carbon cycling under climate change
Ashish A. Malik,Jennifer B. H. Martiny,Eoin L. Brodie,Eoin L. Brodie,Adam C. Martiny,Kathleen K. Treseder,Steven D. Allison +6 more
TL;DR: It is argued that the challenge of predicting the ecosystem implications of microbial processes can be met by identifying microbial life history strategies based on an organism’s phenotypic characteristics, or traits, and representing these strategies in ecosystem models.
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Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes
Ashish A. Malik,Jeremy Puissant,Kate M. Buckeridge,Tim Goodall,Nico Jehmlich,Somak Chowdhury,Hyun S. Gweon,Jodey Peyton,Kelly E. Mason,Maaike van Agtmaal,Aimeric Blaud,Ian M. Clark,Jeanette Whitaker,Richard F. Pywell,Nick Ostle,Gerd Gleixner,Robert I. Griffiths +16 more
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that microbial biomass and carbon use efficiency are reduced in human-impacted near-neutral pH soils, whereas in acidic soils, microbial growth is a bigger constraint on decomposition rates.
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Increasing soil carbon storage: mechanisms, effects of agricultural practices and proxies. A review
Marie-France Dignac,Delphine Derrien,Pierre Barré,Sébastien Barot,Lauric Cécillon,Claire Chenu,Tiphaine Chevallier,Grégoire T. Freschet,Patricia Garnier,Bertrand Guenet,Mickaël Hedde,Katja Klumpp,Gwenaëlle Lashermes,Pierre-Alain Maron,Naoise Nunan,Catherine Roumet,Isabelle Basile-Doelsch +16 more
TL;DR: The CarboSMS consortium federates French researchers working on these mechanisms and their effects on C stocks in a local and global change setting (land use, agricultural practices, climatic and soil conditions, etc.). This article is a synthesis of this consortium's first seminar.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
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TL;DR: In this article, a model of soil organic matter (SOM) quantity and composition was used to simulate steady-state organic matter levels for 24 grassland locations in the U.S. Great Plains.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Trophic-Dynamic Aspect of Ecology
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors apply trophic principles to a series of successional stages to shed new light on the dynamics of ecological succession, and apply them to aquatic food-cycle relationships.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Microbial Efficiency-Matrix Stabilization (MEMS) framework integrates plant litter decomposition with soil organic matter stabilization: do labile plant inputs form stable soil organic matter?
TL;DR: It is proposed that labile plant constituents are the dominant source of microbial products, relative to input rates, because they are utilized more efficiently by microbes, and become the main precursors of stable SOM by promoting aggregation and through strong chemical bonding to the mineral soil matrix.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bacterial and Fungal Contributions to Carbon Sequestration in Agroecosystems
TL;DR: In this paper, the current knowledge of microbial processes affecting C sequestration in agroecosystems is reviewed, and gaps within our knowledge on MOM-C dynamics and how they are related to soil properties and agricultural practices are identified.