The relationship between the spatial variability of soil multifunctionality (i.e., the capacity of soils to conduct multiple functions; SVM) and major climatic drivers, such as temperature and aridity, has never been assessed globally in terrestrial ecosystems. We surveyed 236 dryland ecosystems from six continents to evaluate the relative importance of aridity and mean annual temperature, and of other abiotic (e.g., texture) and biotic (e.g., plant cover) variables as drivers of SVM, calculated as the averaged coefficient of variation for multiple soil variables linked to nutrient stocks and cycling. We found that increases in temperature and aridity were globally correlated to increases in SVM. Some of these climatic effects on SVM were direct, but others were indirectly driven through reductions in the number of vegetation patches and increases in soil sand content. The predictive capacity of our structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling was clearly higher for the spatial variability of N\uffe2\uff80\uff90 than for C\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and P\uffe2\uff80\uff90related soil variables. In the case of N cycling, the effects of temperature and aridity were both direct and indirect via changes in soil properties. For C and P, the effect of climate was mainly indirect via changes in plant attributes. These results suggest that future changes in climate may decouple the spatial availability of these elements for plants and microbes in dryland soils. Our findings significantly advance our understanding of the patterns and mechanisms driving SVM in drylands across the globe, which is critical for predicting changes in ecosystem functioning in response to climate change.Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature, and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local versus regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N, and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1\uffe2\uff80\uff932 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N, and P weathering estimated from the literature. Despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lack of consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies.Changes in substrate quality driven by climate, land use, or other forms of global change may represent a strong selective force on microbial communities. Invasion of new taxa into a community through dispersal, evolution, or recolonization could impact the outcome of this environmental selection. Here, we simulated substrate change with a trait\uffe2\uff80\uff90based model of microbial litter decomposition (DEMENTpy) to assess the legacy effects of past substrate quality and the impact of selection by a new substrate on community decomposition activity. Simulations were run with different levels of invasion, including invasion from communities long\uffe2\uff80\uff90adapted to the new substrate. Legacy effects were evident with substrate change for native communities differing in composition. Protein was the only substrate that exerted a strong enough selective force to affect community composition. Legacy effects disappeared when invaders came from substrates similar to the new substrate. Together, our simulations demonstrate that substrate quality changes associated with global change can lead to legacy effects on substrate degradation. In decomposing plant litter, such legacy effects can occur if substrate inputs shift to higher protein content and if invasion is low.Accumulating evidence suggests that warming associated with climate change is decreasing the total amount of soil organic carbon (SOC) in drylands, although scientific research has not given enough emphasis to particulate (POC) and mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) pools. Biocrusts are a major biotic feature of drylands and have large impacts on the C cycle, yet it is largely unknown whether they modulate the responses of POC and MAOC to climate change. Here, we assessed the effects of simulated climate change (control, reduced rainfall (RE), warming (WA), and RE\uffe2\uff80\uff89+\uffe2\uff80\uff89WA) and initial biocrust cover (low (<\uffe2\uff80\uff8920%) versus high (>\uffe2\uff80\uff8950%)) on the mineral protection of soil C and soil organic matter quality in a dryland ecosystem in central Spain for 9\uffc2\uffa0years. At low initial biocrust cover levels, both WA and RE\uffe2\uff80\uff89+\uffe2\uff80\uff89WA increased SOC, especially POC but also MAOC, and promoted a higher contribution of carbohydrates, relative to aromatic compounds, to the POC fraction. These results suggest that the accumulation of soil C under warming treatments may be transitory in soils with low initial biocrust cover. In soils with high initial biocrust cover, climate change treatments did not affect SOC, neither POC nor MAOC fraction. Overall, our results indicate that biocrust communities modulate the negative effect of climate change on SOC, because no losses of soil C were observed with the climate manipulations under biocrusts. Future work should focus on determining the long-term persistence of the observed buffering effect by biocrust-forming lichens, as they are known to be negatively affected by warming.Streams and rivers act as landscape-scale bioreactors processing large quantities of terrestrial particulate organic matter (POM). This function is linked to their flow regime, which governs residence times, shapes organic matter reactivity and controls the amount of carbon (C) exported to the atmosphere and coastal oceans. Climate change impacts flow regimes by increasing both flash floods and droughts. Here, we used a modelling approach to explore the consequences of lateral hydrological contraction, that is, the reduction of the wet portion of the streambed, for POM decomposition and transport at the river network scale. Our model integrates seasonal leaf litter input as generator of POM, transient storage of POM on wet and dry streambed portions with associated decomposition and ensuing changes in reactivity, and transport dynamics through a dendritic river network. Simulations showed that the amount of POM exported from the river network and its average reactivity increased with lateral hydrological contraction, due to the combination of (1) low processing of POM while stored on dry streambeds, and (2) large shunting during flashy events. The sensitivity analysis further supported that high lateral hydrological contraction leads to higher export of higher reactivity POM, regardless of transport coefficient values, average reactivity of fresh leaf litter and differences between POM reactivity under wet and dry conditions. Our study incorporates storage in dry streambed areas into the pulse-shunt concept (Raymond and others in Ecology 97(1):5\uffe2\uff80\uff9316, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1684.1), providing a mechanistic framework and testable predictions about leaf litter storage, transport and decomposition in fluvial networks.Climate warming is expected to destabilize permafrost carbon (PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C) by thaw\uffe2\uff80\uff90erosion and deepening of the seasonally thawed active layer and thereby promote PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C mineralization to CO2 and CH4. A similar PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C remobilization might have contributed to the increase in atmospheric CO2 during deglacial warming after the last glacial maximum. Using carbon isotopes and terrestrial biomarkers (\uffce\uff9414C, \uffce\uffb413C, and lignin phenols), this study quantifies deposition of terrestrial carbon originating from permafrost in sediments from the Chukchi Sea (core SWERUS\uffe2\uff80\uff90L2\uffe2\uff80\uff904\uffe2\uff80\uff90PC1). The sediment core reconstructs remobilization of permafrost carbon during the late Aller\uffc3\uffb8d warm period starting at 13,000\uffc2\uffa0cal\uffc2\uffa0years before present (BP), the Younger Dryas, and the early Holocene warming until 11,000\uffc2\uffa0cal\uffc2\uffa0years BP and compares this period with the late Holocene, from 3,650\uffc2\uffa0years BP until present. Dual\uffe2\uff80\uff90carbon\uffe2\uff80\uff90isotope\uffe2\uff80\uff90based source apportionment demonstrates that Ice Complex Deposit\uffe2\uff80\uff94ice\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and carbon\uffe2\uff80\uff90rich permafrost from the late Pleistocene (also referred to as Yedoma)\uffe2\uff80\uff94was the dominant source of organic carbon (66\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa08%; mean\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa0standard deviation) to sediments during the end of the deglaciation, with fluxes more than twice as high (8.0\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa04.6\uffc2\uffa0g\uffc2\uffb7m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffb7year\uffe2\uff88\uff921) as in the late Holocene (3.1\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa01.0\uffc2\uffa0g\uffc2\uffb7m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffb7year\uffe2\uff88\uff921). These results are consistent with late deglacial PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C remobilization observed in a Laptev Sea record, yet in contrast with PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C sources, which at that location were dominated by active layer material from the Lena River watershed. Release of dormant PF\uffe2\uff80\uff90C from erosion of coastal permafrost during the end of the last deglaciation indicates vulnerability of Ice Complex Deposit in response to future warming and sea level changes.Forests in seasonally dry areas of eastern Amazonia near Paragominas, Par\uffc3\uffa1, Brazil, maintain an evergreen forest canopy through an extended dry season by taking up soil water through deep (>1 m) roots. Belowground allocation of C in these deep\uffe2\uff80\uff90rooting forests is very large (1900 g C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921) relative to litterfall (460 g C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921). The presence of live roots drives an active carbon cycle deeper than l m in the soil. Although bulk C concentrations and 14C contents of soil organic matter at >l\uffe2\uff80\uff90m depths are low, estimates of turnover from fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90root inputs, CO2 production, and the 14C content of CO2 produced at depth show that up to 15% of the carbon inventory in the deep soil has turnover times of decades or less. Thus the amount of fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling soil carbon between 1 and 8\uffe2\uff80\uff90m depths (2\uffe2\uff80\uff933 kg C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922, out of 17\uffe2\uff80\uff9318 kg C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922) is significant compared to the amount present in the upper meter of soil (3\uffe2\uff80\uff934 kg C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 out of 10\uffe2\uff80\uff9311 kg C m\uffe2\uff88\uff922). A model of belowground carbon cycling derived from measurements of carbon stocks and fluxes, and constrained using carbon isotopes, is used to predict C fluxes associated with conversion of deep\uffe2\uff80\uff90rooting forests to pasture and subsequent pasture management. The relative proportions and turnover times of active (including detrital plant material; 1\uffe2\uff80\uff933 year turnover), slow (decadal and shorter turnover), and passive (centennial to millennial turnover) soil organic matter pools are determined by depth for the forest soil, using constraints from measurements of C stocks, fluxes, and isotopic content. Reduced carbon inputs to the soil in degraded pastures, which are less productive than the forests they replace, lead to a reduction in soil carbon inventory and \uffce\uff9414C, in accord with observations. Managed pastures, which have been fertilized with phosphorous and planted with more productive grasses, show increases in C and 14C over forest values. Carbon inventory increases in the upper meter of managed pasture soils are partially offset by predicted carbon losses due to death and decomposition of fine forest roots at depths >1 m in the soil. The major adjustments in soil carbon inventory in response to land management changes occur within the first decade after conversion. Carbon isotopes are shown to be more sensitive indicators of recent accumulation or loss of soil organic matter than direct measurement of soil C inventories.
", "keywords": ["cycling", "decomposition", "model", "rooting", "carbon", "belowground carbon cycling", "carbon cycling", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "South America", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "soil", "pasture", "forest", "Amazonia", "soil organic matter", "death", "tropical soil", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "phosphorus", "Brazil", "organic matter"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt1zb7d8kx/qt1zb7d8kx.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1029/95gb02148"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Biogeochemical%20Cycles", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1029/95gb02148", "name": "item", "description": "10.1029/95gb02148", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1029/95gb02148"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "1995-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1029/2021jg006593", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:19:14Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-12-07", "title": "Identifying Data Needed to Reduce Parameter Uncertainty in a Coupled Microbial Soil C and N Decomposition Model", "description": "AbstractAdvancements in microbially explicit ecosystem models incorporate increasingly accurate representations of microbial physiology and enzyme\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated depolymerization of soil organic matter in predicting biogeochemical responses to global change. However, a major challenge with model structural improvements is the requirement for additional parameters, which are often poorly constrained sources of uncertainty. Furthermore, it is often unclear how to best focus data collection efforts toward reducing model uncertainty. Here, we use Dual Arrhenius Michaelis\uffe2\uff80\uff90Menten Microbial Carbon and Nitrogen Physiology, a microbially mediated, coupled soil C and N cycling model, as a tool to explore the influence of microbial physiological and enzyme kinetic parameters on model estimates. We first quantify the potential for constraining model parameters using empirical measurements of soil respiration. We then use simulated data to identify which additional sources of data collection from the field would provide the greatest impact for constraining model estimates. We find that modeled soil C and N pools and fluxes are disproportionately sensitive to only a few parameters (e.g., activation energies and microbial CUE), while others exert less influence (e.g., Michaelis\uffe2\uff80\uff90Menten half\uffe2\uff80\uff90saturation constants). While some parameters can be constrained by the available data on heterotrophic respiration, the collection of additional data on dissolved organic C and N pools in the soil is identified as a high\uffe2\uff80\uff90priority data need. Improving our ability to model the interactions of soil microbial physiology, soil chemistry, enzyme activities, and environmental factors on C and N cycling will require closely considering model uncertainties and prioritizing future data collection opportunities based on their impact on model performance.Future climate change and other anthropogenic activities are likely to increase nutrient availability in many peatlands, and it is important to understand how these additional nutrients will influence peatland carbon cycling. We investigated the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus on aerobic CH4oxidation, anaerobic carbon mineralization (as CO2and CH4production), and anaerobic nutrient mineralization in a bog, an intermediate fen, and a rich fen in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We utilized a 5\uffe2\uff80\uff90week laboratory nutrient amendment experiment in conjunction with a 6\uffe2\uff80\uff90year field nutrient fertilization experiment to consider how the relative response to nitrogen and phosphorus differed among these wetlands over the short and long term. Field fertilizations generally increased nutrient availability in the upper 15 cm of peat and resulted in shifts in the vegetation community in each peatland. High nitrogen concentrations inhibited CH4oxidation in bog peat during short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term incubations; however, long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term fertilization with lower concentrations of nitrogen stimulated rates of CH4oxidation in bog peat. In contrast, no nitrogen effects on CH4oxidation were observed in the intermediate or rich fen peat. Anaerobic carbon mineralization in bog peat was consistently inhibited by increased phosphorus availability, but similar phosphorus additions had few effects in the intermediate fen and stimulated CH4production and nutrient mineralization in the rich fen. Our results demonstrate that nitrogen and phosphorus are important controls of peatland microbial carbon cycling; however, the role of these nutrients can differ over the short and long term and is strongly mediated by peatland type.
", "keywords": ["Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "2. Zero hunger", "Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology", "Nutrients", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Peatlands", "Biochemistry", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "Microbial Carbon Cycling", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Methane", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jg000152"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Geophysical%20Research%3A%20Biogeosciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1029/2005jg000152", "name": "item", "description": "10.1029/2005jg000152", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1029/2005jg000152"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2006-08-09T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1029/2006gb002715", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:19:11Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-02-06", "title": "Response Of Peatland Carbon Dioxide And Methane Fluxes To A Water Table Drawdown Experiment", "description": "Northern peatlands play an important role in the global carbon cycle representing a significant stock of soil carbon and a substantial natural source of atmospheric methane (CH4). Peatland carbon cycling is affected by water table position which is predicted to be lowered by climate change. Therefore we compared carbon fluxes along a natural peatland microtopographic gradient (control) to an adjacent microtopographic gradient with an experimentally lowered water table (experimental) during three growing seasons to assess the impact of water table drawdown on peatland\uffe2\uff80\uff90atmosphere carbon exchange. Water table drawdown induced peat subsidence and a change in the vegetation community at the experimental site. This limited differences in carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange between the control and experimental sites resulting in no significant differences between sites after three seasons. However, there was a trend to higher respiration rates and increased productivity in low\uffe2\uff80\uff90lying zones (hollows) and this was coincident with increased vegetation cover at these plots. In general, CH4 efflux was reduced at the experimental site, although CH4 efflux from control and experimental hollows remained similar throughout the study. The differential response of carbon cycling to the water table drawdown along the microtopographic gradient resulted in local topographic high zones (hummocks) experiencing a relative increase in global warming potential (GWP) of 152%, while a 70% reduction in GWP was observed at hollows. Thus the distribution and composition of microtopographic elements, or microforms, within a peatland is important for determining how peatland carbon cycling will respond to climate change.
", "keywords": ["climate change", "13. Climate action", "peatland carbon cycling", "water table drawdown", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "333", "6. Clean water", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1029/2006gb002715"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Biogeochemical%20Cycles", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1029/2006gb002715", "name": "item", "description": "10.1029/2006gb002715", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1029/2006gb002715"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-02-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1029/2020gb006719", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:19:13Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-11-18", "title": "Stream Dissolved Organic Matter in Permafrost Regions Shows Surprising Compositional Similarities but Negative Priming and Nutrient Effects", "description": "AbstractPermafrost degradation is delivering bioavailable dissolved organic matter (DOM) and inorganic nutrients to surface water networks. While these permafrost subsidies represent a small portion of total fluvial DOM and nutrient fluxes, they could influence food webs and net ecosystem carbon balance via priming or nutrient effects that destabilize background DOM. We investigated how addition of biolabile carbon (acetate) and inorganic nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) affected DOM decomposition with 28\uffe2\uff80\uff90day incubations. We incubated late\uffe2\uff80\uff90summer stream water from 23 locations nested in seven northern or high\uffe2\uff80\uff90altitude regions in Asia, Europe, and North America. DOM loss ranged from 3% to 52%, showing a variety of longitudinal patterns within stream networks. DOM optical properties varied widely, but DOM showed compositional similarity based on Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT\uffe2\uff80\uff90ICR MS) analysis. Addition of acetate and nutrients decreased bulk DOM mineralization (i.e., negative priming), with more negative effects on biodegradable DOM but neutral or positive effects on stable DOM. Unexpectedly, acetate and nutrients triggered breakdown of colored DOM (CDOM), with median decreases of 1.6% in the control and 22% in the amended treatment. Additionally, the uptake of added acetate was strongly limited by nutrient availability across sites. These findings suggest that biolabile DOM and nutrients released from degrading permafrost may decrease background DOM mineralization but alter stoichiometry and light conditions in receiving waterbodies. We conclude that priming and nutrient effects are coupled in northern aquatic ecosystems and that quantifying two\uffe2\uff80\uff90way interactions between DOM properties and environmental conditions could resolve conflicting observations about the drivers of DOM in permafrost zone waterways.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "550", "permafrost regions", "thermokarst", "vaikutukset", "ta1171", "geosciences", "ikirouta", "carbon cycling", "551", "ravinteet", "01 natural sciences", "nutrients", "cryosphere and high-latitude processes", "Biology", "Research Articles", "organic matter", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "compositional similarities", "nutrients and nutrient cycling", "hiilen kierto", "ravinteiden kierr\u00e4tys", "15. Life on land", "rivers", "6. Clean water", "nutrient effects", "13. Climate action", "orgaaninen aines", "1171 Geotieteet", "SDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation", "joet", "permafrost"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/biology_facpub/article/2820/viewcontent/2020GB006719.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gb006719"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Biogeochemical%20Cycles", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1029/2020gb006719", "name": "item", "description": "10.1029/2020gb006719", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1029/2020gb006719"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1029/2021JG006593", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:19:13Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-12-07", "title": "Identifying Data Needed to Reduce Parameter Uncertainty in a Coupled Microbial Soil C and N Decomposition Model", "description": "AbstractAdvancements in microbially explicit ecosystem models incorporate increasingly accurate representations of microbial physiology and enzyme\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated depolymerization of soil organic matter in predicting biogeochemical responses to global change. However, a major challenge with model structural improvements is the requirement for additional parameters, which are often poorly constrained sources of uncertainty. Furthermore, it is often unclear how to best focus data collection efforts toward reducing model uncertainty. Here, we use Dual Arrhenius Michaelis\uffe2\uff80\uff90Menten Microbial Carbon and Nitrogen Physiology, a microbially mediated, coupled soil C and N cycling model, as a tool to explore the influence of microbial physiological and enzyme kinetic parameters on model estimates. We first quantify the potential for constraining model parameters using empirical measurements of soil respiration. We then use simulated data to identify which additional sources of data collection from the field would provide the greatest impact for constraining model estimates. We find that modeled soil C and N pools and fluxes are disproportionately sensitive to only a few parameters (e.g., activation energies and microbial CUE), while others exert less influence (e.g., Michaelis\uffe2\uff80\uff90Menten half\uffe2\uff80\uff90saturation constants). While some parameters can be constrained by the available data on heterotrophic respiration, the collection of additional data on dissolved organic C and N pools in the soil is identified as a high\uffe2\uff80\uff90priority data need. Improving our ability to model the interactions of soil microbial physiology, soil chemistry, enzyme activities, and environmental factors on C and N cycling will require closely considering model uncertainties and prioritizing future data collection opportunities based on their impact on model performance.---
chimie foliaire", "densit\u00e9 du peuplement", "foliar chemistry", "soil nitrogen cycling", "stand density", "phenolic", "[SDV.SA.SF] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Silviculture", " forestry", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "compos\u00e9s ph\u00e9noliques"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009083"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Annals%20of%20Forest%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1051/forest/2009083", "name": "item", "description": "10.1051/forest/2009083", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1051/forest/2009083"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1073/pnas.2201832120", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:19:48Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-12-23", "title": "Megaherbivores modify forest structure and increase carbon stocks through multiple pathways", "description": "Abstract
Megaherbivores have pervasive ecological effects. In African rainforests, elephants can increase aboveground carbon, though the mechanisms are unclear. Here we combine a large unpublished dataset of forest elephant feeding with published browsing preferences totaling > 120,000 records covering 700 plant species, including nutritional data for 102 species. Elephants increase carbon stocks by: 1) promoting high wood density tree species via preferential browsing on leaves from low wood density species, which are more digestible; 2) dispersing seeds of trees that are relatively large and have the highest average wood density among tree guilds based on dispersal mode. Loss of forest elephants could cause a 5-12% decline in carbon stocks due to regeneration failure of elephant-dispersed trees and an increase in abundance of low wood density trees. These results show the major importance of megaherbivores in maintaining diverse, high-carbon tropical forests. Successful elephant conservation will contribute to climate mitigation at a scale of global relevance.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "570", "plant animal interactions", "Elephants", "MESH: Carbon", "carbon cycling", "Forests", "01 natural sciences", "Trees", "megafauna", "MESH: Biomass", "Animals", "MESH: Animals", "Biomass", "nature-based solutions", "Tropical Climate", "biogeochemical cycles", "MESH: Forests", "Biological Sciences", "15. Life on land", "Carbon", "MESH: Trees", "[SDE.BE] Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology", "MESH: Elephants", "MESH: Tropical Climate", "[SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.2201832120"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2201832120"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Proceedings%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1073/pnas.2201832120", "name": "item", "description": "10.1073/pnas.2201832120", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1073/pnas.2201832120"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2021-12-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.16122", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:20:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-02-06", "title": "Soil fauna drives vertical redistribution of soil organic carbon in a long\u2010term irrigated dry pine forest", "description": "AbstractSummer droughts strongly affect soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling, but net effects on SOC storage are unclear as drought affects both C inputs and outputs from soils. Here, we explored the overlooked role of soil fauna on SOC storage in forests, hypothesizing that soil faunal activity is particularly drought\uffe2\uff80\uff90sensitive, thereby reducing litter incorporation into the mineral soil and, eventually, long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term SOC storage.
In a drought\uffe2\uff80\uff90prone pine forest (Switzerland), we performed a large\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale irrigation experiment for 17\uffc2\uffa0years and assessed its impact on vertical SOC distribution and composition. We also examined litter mass loss of dominant tree species using different mesh\uffe2\uff80\uff90size litterbags and determined soil fauna abundance and community composition.
The 17\uffe2\uff80\uff90year\uffe2\uff80\uff90long irrigation resulted in a C loss in the organic layers (\uffe2\uff88\uff921.0\uffc2\uffa0kg\uffc2\uffa0C\uffc2\uffa0m\uffe2\uff88\uff922) and a comparable C gain in the mineral soil (+0.8\uffc2\uffa0kg\uffc2\uffa0C\uffc2\uffa0m\uffe2\uff88\uff922) and thus did not affect total SOC stocks. Irrigation increased the mass loss ofQuercus pubescensandViburnum lantanaleaf litter, with greater effect sizes when meso\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and macrofauna were included (+215%) than when excluded (+44%). The enhanced faunal\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated litter mass loss was paralleled by a many\uffe2\uff80\uff90fold increase in the abundance of meso\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and macrofauna during irrigation. Moreover, Acari and Collembola community composition shifted, with a higher presence of drought\uffe2\uff80\uff90sensitive species in irrigated soils. In comparison, microbial SOC mineralization was less sensitive to soil moisture. Our results suggest that the vertical redistribution of SOC with irrigation was mainly driven by faunal\uffe2\uff80\uff90mediated litter incorporation, together with increased root C inputs.
Our study shows that soil fauna is highly sensitive to natural drought, which leads to a reduced C transfer from organic layers to the mineral soil. In the longer term, this potentially affects SOC storage and, therefore, soil fauna plays a key but so far largely overlooked role in shaping SOC responses to drought.The soil microbiome determines the fate of plant-fixed carbon. The shifts in soil properties caused by land use change leads to modifications in microbiome function, resulting in either loss or gain of soil organic carbon (SOC). Soil pH is the primary factor regulating microbiome characteristics leading to distinct pathways of microbial carbon cycling, but the underlying mechanisms remain understudied. Here, the taxa-trait relationships behind the variable fate of SOC were investigated using metaproteomics, metabarcoding, and a 13C-labeled litter decomposition experiment across two temperate sites with differing soil pH each with a paired land use intensity contrast. 13C incorporation into microbial biomass increased with land use intensification in low-pH soil but decreased in high-pH soil, with potential impact on carbon use efficiency in opposing directions. Reduction in biosynthesis traits was due to increased abundance of proteins linked to resource acquisition and stress tolerance. These trait trade-offs were underpinned by land use intensification-induced changes in dominant taxa with distinct traits. We observed divergent pH-controlled pathways of SOC cycling. In low-pH soil, land use intensification alleviates microbial abiotic stress resulting in increased biomass production but promotes decomposition and SOC loss. In contrast, in high-pH soil, land use intensification increases microbial physiological constraints and decreases biomass production, leading to reduced necromass build-up and SOC stabilization. We demonstrate how microbial biomass production and respiration dynamics and therefore carbon use efficiency can be decoupled from SOC highlighting the need for its careful consideration in managing SOC storage for soil health and climate change mitigation.Megaherbivores have pervasive ecological effects. In African rainforests, elephants can increase aboveground carbon, though the mechanisms are unclear. Here we combine a large unpublished dataset of forest elephant feeding with published browsing preferences totaling > 120,000 records covering 700 plant species, including nutritional data for 102 species. Elephants increase carbon stocks by: 1) promoting high wood density tree species via preferential browsing on leaves from low wood density species, which are more digestible; 2) dispersing seeds of trees that are relatively large and have the highest average wood density among tree guilds based on dispersal mode. Loss of forest elephants could cause a 5-12% decline in carbon stocks due to regeneration failure of elephant-dispersed trees and an increase in abundance of low wood density trees. These results show the major importance of megaherbivores in maintaining diverse, high-carbon tropical forests. Successful elephant conservation will contribute to climate mitigation at a scale of global relevance.
Intensive agriculture is dominated by monocultures of high\uffe2\uff80\uff90yielding plants that receive large applications of nitrogen (N) fertilizers to boost plant productivity. However, these systems have low N use efficiency (NUE) as fertilized plants generally take up less than half of the N applied. A large fraction of the remainder N is susceptible to be lost from the agroecosystem generating a cascade of environmental and socio\uffe2\uff80\uff90economic problems. Climate change and projected global increases in fertilizer use pose further risks to N losses and yield stability.
We review and translate concepts from ecology in natural systems to demonstrate that NUE in intensive agroecosystems can be strongly increased by fine\uffe2\uff80\uff90tuning the traits of the plant communities to the levels of N fertilization intensity.
We present key plant traits of importance for N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling (architectural, morphological and physiological traits, as well as symbiotic associations and exudation patterns); discuss ecological (with soil fauna and N\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling microbial communities) and agronomic interactions of this approach; propose interdisciplinary methodologies for future research ranging from pot to global scales; and highlight possible solutions leading to an optimal balance between N fertilizer use and productivity.
Synthesis and applications. By showing the strong links between plant traits and nitrogen (N) cycling, our work opens possibilities to test ecologically informed hypotheses across gradients of soil fertility and N fertilizer management intensity, setting a research agenda for the coming years. Accordingly, the choice of plant species based on their functional traits will play a central role for the development of modern and productive agroecosystems that retain and use N more efficiently.
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) could alter the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) content of ecosystems, yet the magnitude of these effects are not well known. We examined C and N budgets of a subtropical woodland after 11\uffc2\uffa0yr of exposure to elevated CO2.
We used open\uffe2\uff80\uff90top chambers to manipulate CO2 during regrowth after fire, and measured C, N and tracer 15N in ecosystem components throughout the experiment.
Elevated CO2 increased plant C and tended to increase plant N but did not significantly increase whole\uffe2\uff80\uff90system C or N. Elevated CO2 increased soil microbial activity and labile soil C, but more slowly cycling soil C pools tended to decline. Recovery of a long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term 15N tracer indicated that CO2 exposure increased N losses and altered N distribution, with no effect on N inputs.
Increased plant C accrual was accompanied by higher soil microbial activity and increased C losses from soil, yielding no statistically detectable effect of elevated CO2 on net ecosystem C uptake. These findings challenge the treatment of terrestrial ecosystems responses to elevated CO2 in current biogeochemical models, where the effect of elevated CO2 on ecosystem C balance is described as enhanced photosynthesis and plant growth with decomposition as a first\uffe2\uff80\uff90order response.
", "keywords": ["Soil organic matter", "Long term experiment", "Elevated atmospheric CO2", "Florida scrub oak", "Scrub oak", "Research", "Plant Sciences", "Aboveground biomass", "Plant Biology", "Microbial communities", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Cycling", "15. Life on land", "Forest productivity", "Soil carbon", "Rhizosphere processes", "Terrestrial ecosystems", "Dioxide enrichment", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Elevated CO2", "Climate feedbacks", "Global change", "Subtropical woodland", "Nitrogen cycling"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/biology_fac_pubs/article/1264/viewcontent/Day2013CumulativeResponseofEcosystemCarbonandNitrogenOCR.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12333"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/nph.12333", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/nph.12333", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/nph.12333"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-05-30T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:20:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2009-08-11", "title": "Grazing Triggers Soil Carbon Loss By Altering Plant Roots And Their Control On Soil Microbial Community", "description": "Summary1.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Depending on grazing intensity, grasslands tend towards two contrasting systems that differ in terms of species diversity and soil carbon (C) storage. To date, effects of grazing on C cycling have mainly been studied in grasslands subject to constant grazing regimes, whereas little is known for grasslands experiencing a change in grazing intensity. Analysing the transition between C\uffe2\uff80\uff90storing and C\uffe2\uff80\uff90releasing grasslands under low\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and high\uffe2\uff80\uff90grazing regimes, respectively, will help to identify key plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil interactions for C cycling.
2.\uffe2\uff80\uff82The transition was studied in a mesocosm experiment with grassland monoliths submitted to a change in grazing after 14\uffe2\uff80\uff83years of constant high and low grazing. Plant\uffe2\uff80\uff93soil interactions were analysed by following the dynamics of plant and microbial communities, roots and soil organic matter fractions over 2\uffe2\uff80\uff83years. After disturbance change, mesocosms were continuously exposed to13C\uffe2\uff80\uff90labelled CO2, which allowed us to trace both the incorporation of new litter C produced by a modified plant community in soil and the fate of old unlabelled litter C.
3.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Changing disturbance intensity led to a cascade of events. After shift to high disturbance, photosynthesis decreased followed by a decline in root biomass and a change in plant community structure 1.5\uffe2\uff80\uff83months later. Those changes led to a decrease of soil fungi, a proliferation of Gram(+) bacteria and accelerated decomposition of old particulate organic C (<6\uffe2\uff80\uff83months). At last, accelerated decomposition released plant available nitrogen and decreased soil C storage. Our results indicate that intensified grazing triggers proliferation of Gram(+) bacteria and subsequent faster decomposition by reducing roots adapted to low disturbance.
4.\uffe2\uff80\uff82Synthesis. Plant communities exert control on microbial communities and decomposition through the activity of their living roots: slow\uffe2\uff80\uff90growing plants adapted to low disturbance reduce Gram(+) bacteria, decomposition of low and high quality litter, nitrogen availability and, thus, ingress of fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90growing plants. Our results indicate that grazing impacts on soil carbon storage by altering plant roots and their control on the soil microbial community and decomposition, and that these processes will foster decomposition and soil C loss in more productive and disturbed grassland systems.
", "keywords": ["580", "disturbance", "[SDE] Environmental Sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "decomposition", "[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "carbon cycling", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "matter", "[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]", "[SDV.EE] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", " environment", "nitrogen cycling", "13. Climate action", "[SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology", "ARISA", "[SDE]Environmental Sciences", "PLFA", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "grassland", "microbial community", "environment", "management", "particulate organic"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01549.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2009-08-11T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:20:54Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-10-02", "title": "Thermal Adaptation Of Soil Microbial Respiration To Elevated Temperature", "description": "AbstractIn the short\uffe2\uff80\uff90term heterotrophic soil respiration is strongly and positively related to temperature. In the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term, its response to temperature is uncertain. One reason for this is because in field experiments increases in respiration due to warming are relatively short\uffe2\uff80\uff90lived. The explanations proposed for this ephemeral response include depletion of fast\uffe2\uff80\uff90cycling, soil carbon pools and thermal adaptation of microbial respiration. Using a >\uffe2\uff80\uff8315\uffe2\uff80\uff83year soil warming experiment in a mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude forest, we show that the apparent \uffe2\uff80\uff98acclimation\uffe2\uff80\uff99 of soil respiration at the ecosystem scale results from combined effects of reductions in soil carbon pools and microbial biomass, and thermal adaptation of microbial respiration. Mass\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific respiration rates were lower when seasonal temperatures were higher, suggesting that rate reductions under experimental warming likely occurred through temperature\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced changes in the microbial community. Our results imply that stimulatory effects of global temperature rise on soil respiration rates may be lower than currently predicted.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Hot Temperature", "Physiological", "adaptation", "carbon cycling", "soil respiration", "01 natural sciences", "climate warming", "thermal biology", "Soil", "Biomass", "Adaptation", "Soil Microbiology", "Evolutionary Biology", "Ecology", "temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Biogeochemistry", "15. Life on land", "Adaptation", " Physiological", "Climate Action", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "Ecological Applications", "Regression Analysis", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "CO2", "Seasons", "microbial community", "Acclimation"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt1kz5j4pn/qt1kz5j4pn.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology%20Letters", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01251.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2008-11-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03319.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-26T16:20:56Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-06-11", "title": "Shifts In Plant Respiration And Carbon Use Efficiency At A Large-Scale Drought Experiment In The Eastern Amazon", "description": "Featured paper: See Editorial p553
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Time Factors", "550", "plant community", "carbon fixation", "Carbon use efficiency", "Cell Respiration", "Amazon rain forest", "drought", "Gross primary productivity", "01 natural sciences", "experimental study", "metabolism Amazon rain forest", "Trees", "Soil", "cell respiration", "Keywords: carbon", "partitioning", "Ecosystem", "ecosystem", "Carbon cycling", "Drought", "Bacteria", "article", "carbon dioxide", "net primary production", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "bacterium", "Carbon", "6. Clean water", "Net primary productivity", "Droughts", "carbon flux", "Carbon dioxide", "rainforest", "respiration", "Partitioning", "Brazil"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/79387/5/f5625xPUB78382010.pdf.jpg"}, {"href": "https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/79387/7/01_Metcalfe_Shifts_in_plant_respiration_2010.pdf.jpg"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03319.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03319.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03319.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03319.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-07-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/nph.12409", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:21:05Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-07-22", "title": "Fire, Hurricane And Carbon Dioxide: Effects On Net Primary Production Of A Subtropical Woodland", "description": "Summary
Disturbance affects most terrestrial ecosystems and has the potential to shape their responses to chronic environmental change.
Scrub\uffe2\uff80\uff90oak vegetation regenerating from fire disturbance in subtropical Florida was exposed to experimentally elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration (+350\uffc2\uffa0\uffce\uffbcl\uffc2\uffa0l\uffe2\uff88\uff921) using open\uffe2\uff80\uff90top chambers for 11\uffc2\uffa0yr, punctuated by hurricane disturbance in year 8. Here, we report the effects of elevated CO2 on aboveground and belowground net primary productivity (NPP) and nitrogen (N) cycling during this experiment.
The stimulation of NPP and N uptake by elevated CO2 peaked within 2\uffc2\uffa0yr after disturbance by fire and hurricane, when soil nutrient availability was high. The stimulation subsequently declined and disappeared, coincident with low soil nutrient availability and with a CO2\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced reduction in the N concentration of oak stems.
These findings show that strong growth responses to elevated CO2 can be transient, are consistent with a progressively limited response to elevated CO2 interrupted by disturbance, and illustrate the importance of biogeochemical responses to extreme events in modulating ecosystem responses to global environmental change.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "NITROGEN-USE EFFICIENCY", "Scrub oak ecosystem", "01 natural sciences", "Trees", "Quercus", "Soil", "nitrogen cycling", "oak woodland", "ECOSYSTEMS", "Global environmental change", "Biomass", "ROOT BIOMASS", "disturbance", "Florida scrub", "elevated CO2", "Elevated atmospheric CO2", "Plant Stems", "Cyclonic Storms", "Aboveground biomass", "FOREST PRODUCTIVITY", "Hurricane", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Nitrogen Cycle", "Fire", "Soil carbon", "LONG-TERM EXPOSURE", "Net primary productivity", "Long term exposure", "Florida", "Elevated CO2", "fire", "FLORIDA SCRUB", "ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS", "Nitrogen cycling", "TERRESTRIAL", "Oak woodland", "ELEVATED ATMOSPHERIC CO2", "Elevated CO 2", "Nitrogen", "hurricane", "Forest productivity", "Fires", "Terrestrial ecosystems", "SCRUB-OAK ECOSYSTEM", "Net primary productivity (NPP)", "Ecosystem", "Nitrogen use efficiency", "Atmosphere", "net primary productivity (NPP)", "Root biomass", "Plant Sciences", "global environmental change", "Disturbance", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "SOIL CARBON"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/context/biology_fac_pubs/article/1266/viewcontent/Day2013FireHurricaneandCarbonDioxideOCR.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12409"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/nph.12409", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/nph.12409", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/nph.12409"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-07-22T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61cf", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "unspecified", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:24:05Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Oxygen availability regulates the quality of soil dissolved organic matter by mediating microbial metabolism and iron oxidation", "description": "Dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a vital role in biogeochemical processes and in determining the responses of soil organic matter (SOM) to global change. Although the quantity of soil DOM has been inventoried across diverse spatio-temporal scales, the underlying mechanisms accounting for variability in DOM dynamics remain unclear, especially in upland ecosystems. Here, a gradient of SOM storage across twelve croplands in northeast China was used to understand links between DOM dynamics, microbial metabolism, and abiotic conditions. We assessed the composition, biodegradability and key biodegradable components of DOM. In addition, SOM and mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) composition, soil enzyme activities, oxygen availability, soil texture, iron (Fe), Fe-bound organic matter and nutrient concentrations were quantified to clarify the drivers of DOM quality (composition and biodegradability). The proportion of biodegradable DOM increased exponentially with decreasing initial DOM concentration due to larger fractions of depolymerized DOM that was rich in small-molecular phenols and proteinaceous components. Unexpectedly, the composition of DOM was decoupled from that of SOM or MAOM, but significantly related to enzymatic properties. These results indicate that microbial metabolism exhibited a dominant role in DOM generation. As DOM concentration declined, increased soil oxygen availability regulated DOM composition and enhanced its biodegradability mainly through mediating microbial metabolism and Fe oxidation. The oxygen-induced oxidation of Fe(II) to Fe(III) removed complex DOM compounds with large molecular weight. Moreover, increased oxygen availability stimulated oxidase-catalyzed depolymerization of aromatic substances, and promoted production of protein-like DOM components due to lower enzymatic C/N acquisition ratio. As global changes in temperature and moisture will have large impacts on soil oxygen availability, the role of oxygen in regulating DOM dynamics highlights the importance of integrating soil oxygen supply with microbial metabolism and Fe redox status to improve model predictions of soil carbon under climate change.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "soil organic carbon", "iron cycling", "13. Climate action", "FOS: Agricultural sciences", "Biodegradation", "oxygen availability", "enzymatic stoichiometry", "15. Life on land", "dissolved organic matter", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Li, Ye, Chen, Zengming, Chen, Ji, Castellano, Michael J., Ye, Chenglong, Zhang, Nan, Miao, Yuncai, Zheng, Huijie, Li, Junjie, Ding, Weixin,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61cf"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61cf", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61cf", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61cf"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-10-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/02-0433", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:22:11Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-06-04", "title": "Plant Diversity, Soil Microbial Communities, And Ecosystem Function: Are There Any Links?", "description": "A current debate in ecology centers on the extent to which ecosystem function depends on biodiversity. Here, we provide evidence from a long-term field manipulation of plant diversity that soil microbial communities, and the key ecosystem processes that they mediate, are significantly altered by plant species richness. After seven years of plant growth, we determined the composition and function of soil microbial communities beneath experimental plant diversity treatments containing 1-16 species. Microbial community bio- mass, respiration, and fungal abundance significantly increased with greater plant diversity, as did N mineralization rates. However, changes in microbial community biomass, activity, and composition largely resulted from the higher levels of plant production associated with greater diversity, rather than from plant diversity per se. Nonetheless, greater plant pro- duction could not explain more rapid N mineralization, indicating that plant diversity affected this microbial process, which controls rates of ecosystem N cycling. Greater N availability probably contributed to the positive relationship between plant diversity and productivity in the N-limited soils of our experiment, suggesting that plant-microbe in- teractions in soil are an integral component of plant diversity's influence on ecosystem", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "soil C and N cycling", "Science", "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "microbial communities", "phospholipid fatty acid analysis", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "plant communities", "gross N mineralization", "soil microbes", "ecosystem function", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "species richness", "gross N immobilization", "biodiversity"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Zak, Donald R., Holmes, William E., White, David C., Peacock, Aaron D., Tilman, David,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/02-0433"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/02-0433", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/02-0433", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/02-0433"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2003-08-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/03-5055", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:22:11Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-06-06", "title": "Soil Nitrogen Cycling Under Elevated Co2: A Synthesis Of Forest Face Experiments", "description": "The extent to which greater net primary productivity (NPP) will be sustained as the atmospheric CO2 concentration increases will depend, in part, on the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term supply of N for plant growth. Over a two\uffe2\uff80\uff90year period, we used common field and laboratory methods to quantify microbial N, gross N mineralization, microbial N immobilization, and specific microbial N immobilization in three free\uffe2\uff80\uff90air CO2 enrichment experiments (Duke Forest, Oak Ridge, Rhinelander). In these experiments, elevated atmospheric CO2 has increased the input of above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and belowground litter production, which fuels heterotrophic metabolism in soil. Nonetheless, we found no effect of atmospheric CO2 concentration on any microbial N cycling pool or process, indicating that greater litter production had not initially altered the microbial supply of N for plant growth. Thus, we have no evidence that changes in plant litter production under elevated CO2 will initially slow soil N availability and produce a negative feedback on NPP. Understanding the time scale over which greater plant production modifies microbial N demand lies at the heart of our ability to predict long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term changes in soil N availability and hence whether greater NPP will be sustained in a CO2\uffe2\uff80\uff90enriched atmosphere.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "elevated CO2", "soil microorganisms", "Science", "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "microbial immobilization", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "soil N cycling", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "6. Clean water", "climate change", "gross N mineralization", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "forest FACE experiments", "Forest Sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/03-5055"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/03-5055", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/03-5055", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/03-5055"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2003-12-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/06-1819.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:22:14Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-10-23", "title": "Atmospheric Co2 And O-3 Alter The Flow Of N-15 In Developing Forest Ecosystems", "description": "Anthropogenic O3 and CO2-induced declines in soil N availability could counteract greater plant growth in a CO2-enriched atmosphere, thereby reducing net primary productivity (NPP) and the potential of terrestrial ecosystems to sequester anthropogenic CO2. Presently, it is uncertain how increasing atmospheric CO2 and O3 will alter plant N demand and the acquisition of soil N by plants as well as the microbial supply of N from soil organic matter. To address this uncertainty, we initiated an ecosystem-level 15N tracer experiment at the Rhinelander (Wisconsin, USA) free air CO2-O3 enrichment (FACE) facility to understand how projected increases in atmospheric CO2 and 03 alter the distribution and flow of N in developing northern temperate forests. Tracer amounts of 15NH4+ were applied to the forest floor of developing Populus tremuloides and P. tremuloides-Betula papyrifera communities that have been exposed to factorial CO2 and O3 treatments for seven years. One year after isotope addition, both forest communities exposed to elevated CO2 obtained greater amounts of 15N (29%) and N (40%) from soil, despite no change in soil N availability or plant N-use efficiency. As such, elevated CO2 increased the ability of plants to exploit soil for N, through the development of a larger root system. Conversely, elevated O3 decreased the amount of 15N (-15%) and N (-29%) in both communities, a response resulting from lower rates of photosynthesis, decreases in growth, and smaller root systems that acquired less soil N. Neither CO2 nor 03 altered the amount of N or 15N recovery in the forest floor, microbial biomass, or soil organic matter. Moreover, we observed no interaction between CO2 and 03 on the amount of N or 15N in any ecosystem pool, suggesting that 03 could exert a negative effect regardless of CO2 concentration. In a CO2-enriched atmosphere, greater belowground growth and a more thorough exploitation of soil for growth-limiting N is an important mechanism sustaining the enhancement of NPP in developing forests (0-8 years following establishment). However, as CO2 accumulates in the Earth's atmosphere, future O3 concentrations threaten to diminish the enhancement of plant growth, decrease plant N acquisition, and lessen the storage of anthropogenic C in temperate forests.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "Plant Roots", "01 natural sciences", "forest floor", "Soil", "developing forest", "Wisconsin", "atmospheric O3", "Ozone", "soil organic matter", "Populus tremuloides", "Biomass", "USA", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "atmospheric CO2", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "15N", "plant N uptake", "microbial immobilization", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "root system size", "Populus", "N cycling", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Betula papyrifera"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1819.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/06-1819.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/06-1819.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/06-1819.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/feart.2021.630493", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-26T16:23:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2021-03-26", "title": "Permafrost Carbon and CO2 Pathways Differ at Contrasting Coastal Erosion Sites in the Canadian Arctic", "description": "Warming air and sea temperatures, longer open-water seasons and sea-level rise collectively promote the erosion of permafrost coasts in the Arctic, which profoundly impacts organic matter pathways. Although estimates on organic carbon (OC) fluxes from erosion exist for some parts of the Arctic, little is known about how much OC is transformed into greenhouse gases (GHGs). In this study we investigated two different coastal erosion scenarios on Qikiqtaruk \uffe2\uff80\uff93 Herschel Island (Canada) and estimate the potential for GHG formation. We distinguished between adelayedrelease represented bymud debrisdraining a coastal thermoerosional feature and adirectrelease represented bycliff debrisat a low collapsing bluff. Carbon dioxide (CO2) production was measured during incubations at 4\uffc2\uffb0C under aerobic conditions for two months and were modeled for four months and a full year. Our incubation results show thatmud debrisandcliff debrislost a considerable amount of OC as CO2(2.5 \uffc2\uffb1 0.2 and 1.6 \uffc2\uffb1 0.3% of OC, respectively). Although relative OC losses were highest in mineralmud debris, higher initial OC content and fresh organic matter incliff debrisresulted in a \uffe2\uff88\uffbcthree times higher cumulative CO2release (4.0 \uffc2\uffb1 0.9 compared to 1.4 \uffc2\uffb1 0.1 mg CO2gdw\uffe2\uff80\uff931), which was further increased by the addition of seawater. After four months, modeled OC losses were 4.9 \uffc2\uffb1 0.1 and 3.2 \uffc2\uffb1 0.3% in set-ups without seawater and 14.3 \uffc2\uffb1 0.1 and 7.3 \uffc2\uffb1 0.8% in set-ups with seawater. The results indicate that adelayedrelease may support substantial cycling of OC at relatively low CO2production rates during long transit timesonshoreduring the Arctic warm season. By contrast,directerosion may result in a single CO2pulse and less substantial OC cyclingonshoreas transfer times are short. Once eroded sediments are deposited in thenearshore, highest OC losses can be expected. We conclude that the release of CO2from eroding permafrost coasts varies considerably between erosion types and residence timeonshore. We emphasize the importance of a more comprehensive understanding of OC degradation during the coastal erosion process to improve thawed carbon trajectories and models.