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Assessing the impact of elevated CO2 on soil microbial activity in a Mediterranean model ecosystem

  • Carbon Allocation Mechanisms and Controls
  • Carbon Losses to Other Organisms
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Abstract

The fate, as well as the consequence for plant nutrition, of the additional carbon entering soil under elevated CO2 is largely determined by the activity of soil microorganisms. However, most elevated CO2 studies have documented changes (generally increases) in microbial biomass and total infection by symbiotic organisms, which is only a first step in the understanding of the modification of soil processes. Using a Mediterranean model ecosystem, we complemented these variables by analyzing changes in enzymatic activities, hyphal lengths, and bacterial substrate assimilation, to tentatively identify the specific components affected under elevated CO2 and those which suggest changes in soil organic matter pools. We also investigated changes in the functional structures of arbuscular mycorrhizas. Most of the microbial variables assessed showed significant and substantial increase under elevated CO2, of the same order or less than those observed for root mass and length. The increase in dehydrogenase activity indicates that the larger biomass of microbes was accompanied by an increase in their activity. The increase in hyphal length (predominantly of saprophytic fungi), and xylanase, cellulase and phosphatase activities, suggests an overall stimulation of organic matter decomposition. The higher number of substrates utilized by microorganisms from the soil under elevated CO2 was significant for the amine/amide group. Total arbuscular and vesicular mycorrhizal infection of roots was higher under elevated CO2, but the proportion of functional structures was not modified. These insights into the CO2-induced changes in soil biological activity point towards potential areas of investigation complementary to a direct analysis of the soil organic matter pools.

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Author notes

  1. Shivcharn S. Dhillion

    Present address: Department of Biology and Nature Conservation, Agricultural University of Norway (NLH), SUM-University of Oslo, P.O. Box 5014, N-1432, Ås, Norway

  2. Mary Abrams

    Present address: BES, City of Portland, 1120 SW 5th Ave., Rm 400, 97204, Portland, OR, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. C.N.R.S., Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 1919 Route de Mende, BP 5051, F-34033, Montpellier, France

    Shivcharn S. Dhillion, Jacques Roy & Mary Abrams

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  1. Shivcharn S. Dhillion
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  2. Jacques Roy
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Dhillion, S.S., Roy, J. & Abrams, M. Assessing the impact of elevated CO2 on soil microbial activity in a Mediterranean model ecosystem. Plant Soil 187, 333–342 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00017098

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