Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change

Jérémy Puissant; Vincent E.J. Jassey; Robert T.E. Mills; Bjorn J.M. Robroek; Konstantin Gavazov; Sebastien De Danieli; Thomas Spiegelberger; Robert Griffiths; Alexandre Buttler; Jean Jacques Brun; Lauric Cécillon

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023

Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change

Jérémy Puissant^*, Vincent E.J. Jassey, Robert T.E. Mills, Bjorn J.M. Robroek, Konstantin Gavazov, Sebastien De Danieli, Thomas Spiegelberger, Robert Griffiths, Alexandre Buttler, Jean Jacques Brun, Lauric Cécillon

^*Corresponding author for this work

Environment and Geography

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In mountain ecosystems with marked seasonality, climate change can affect various processes in soils, potentially modifying long-term key soil services via change in soil organic carbon (C) storage. Based on a four-year soil transplantation experiment in Swiss subalpine grasslands, we investigated how imposed climate warming and reduced precipitation modified the drivers of soil carbon enzyme potential activities across winter and summer seasons. Specifically, we used structural equation models (SEMs) to identify biotic (microbial community structure, abundance and activity) and abiotic (quantity and quality of organic matter resources) drivers of soil C-enzymes (hydrolase and oxidase) in two seasons under two different climate scenarios. We found contrasting impacts of the climate manipulation on the drivers of C-enzymes between winter and summer. In winter, no direct effect of climate manipulation (reduced rainfall and warming) on enzyme activity was observed. Yet, climate indirectly down-regulated enzyme activity through a decrease in the availability of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) labile resources. During summer, reduced soil moisture –induced by the climate manipulation– directly reduced soil microbial biomass, which led to a decrease in C-enzyme activity. In general, across both seasons, neither microbial community structure, nor organic matter quality were strong determinants of enzymatic activity. In particular organic matter recalcitrance (aromaticity) was not found as a general driver of either hydrolase or oxidase C-enzyme potential activities, though we did observe higher C-enzyme activities led to an increase of particulate organic matter recalcitrance in the summer season. Overall, our results highlight the seasonality of climate change effects on soil organic matter enzymatic decomposition, providing a comprehensive picture of seasonal potential cause and effect relationships governing C mineralization in subalpine grasslands.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	266-274
Number of pages	9
Journal	Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume	124
Early online date	25 Jul 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2018

Keywords

Climate manipulation
Path analysis
Recalcitrance
Soil microbial communities
Soil organic matter fractions
Structural equation models

Access to Document

10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023

Cite this

Puissant, J., Jassey, V. E. J., Mills, R. T. E., Robroek, B. J. M., Gavazov, K., De Danieli, S., Spiegelberger, T., Griffiths, R., Buttler, A., Brun, J. J., & Cécillon, L. (2018). Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 124, 266-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023

@article{93cfd8a17e0f46bbba88e896053d118c,

title = "Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change",

abstract = "In mountain ecosystems with marked seasonality, climate change can affect various processes in soils, potentially modifying long-term key soil services via change in soil organic carbon (C) storage. Based on a four-year soil transplantation experiment in Swiss subalpine grasslands, we investigated how imposed climate warming and reduced precipitation modified the drivers of soil carbon enzyme potential activities across winter and summer seasons. Specifically, we used structural equation models (SEMs) to identify biotic (microbial community structure, abundance and activity) and abiotic (quantity and quality of organic matter resources) drivers of soil C-enzymes (hydrolase and oxidase) in two seasons under two different climate scenarios. We found contrasting impacts of the climate manipulation on the drivers of C-enzymes between winter and summer. In winter, no direct effect of climate manipulation (reduced rainfall and warming) on enzyme activity was observed. Yet, climate indirectly down-regulated enzyme activity through a decrease in the availability of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) labile resources. During summer, reduced soil moisture –induced by the climate manipulation– directly reduced soil microbial biomass, which led to a decrease in C-enzyme activity. In general, across both seasons, neither microbial community structure, nor organic matter quality were strong determinants of enzymatic activity. In particular organic matter recalcitrance (aromaticity) was not found as a general driver of either hydrolase or oxidase C-enzyme potential activities, though we did observe higher C-enzyme activities led to an increase of particulate organic matter recalcitrance in the summer season. Overall, our results highlight the seasonality of climate change effects on soil organic matter enzymatic decomposition, providing a comprehensive picture of seasonal potential cause and effect relationships governing C mineralization in subalpine grasslands.",

keywords = "Climate manipulation, Path analysis, Recalcitrance, Soil microbial communities, Soil organic matter fractions, Structural equation models",

author = "J{\'e}r{\'e}my Puissant and Jassey, {Vincent E.J.} and Mills, {Robert T.E.} and Robroek, {Bjorn J.M.} and Konstantin Gavazov and {De Danieli}, Sebastien and Thomas Spiegelberger and Robert Griffiths and Alexandre Buttler and Brun, {Jean Jacques} and Lauric C{\'e}cillon",

year = "2018",

month = sep,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023",

language = "English",

volume = "124",

pages = "266--274",

journal = "Soil Biology and Biochemistry",

issn = "0038-0717",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change

AU - Puissant, Jérémy

AU - Jassey, Vincent E.J.

AU - Mills, Robert T.E.

AU - Robroek, Bjorn J.M.

AU - Gavazov, Konstantin

AU - De Danieli, Sebastien

AU - Spiegelberger, Thomas

AU - Griffiths, Robert

AU - Buttler, Alexandre

AU - Brun, Jean Jacques

AU - Cécillon, Lauric

PY - 2018/9/1

Y1 - 2018/9/1

N2 - In mountain ecosystems with marked seasonality, climate change can affect various processes in soils, potentially modifying long-term key soil services via change in soil organic carbon (C) storage. Based on a four-year soil transplantation experiment in Swiss subalpine grasslands, we investigated how imposed climate warming and reduced precipitation modified the drivers of soil carbon enzyme potential activities across winter and summer seasons. Specifically, we used structural equation models (SEMs) to identify biotic (microbial community structure, abundance and activity) and abiotic (quantity and quality of organic matter resources) drivers of soil C-enzymes (hydrolase and oxidase) in two seasons under two different climate scenarios. We found contrasting impacts of the climate manipulation on the drivers of C-enzymes between winter and summer. In winter, no direct effect of climate manipulation (reduced rainfall and warming) on enzyme activity was observed. Yet, climate indirectly down-regulated enzyme activity through a decrease in the availability of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) labile resources. During summer, reduced soil moisture –induced by the climate manipulation– directly reduced soil microbial biomass, which led to a decrease in C-enzyme activity. In general, across both seasons, neither microbial community structure, nor organic matter quality were strong determinants of enzymatic activity. In particular organic matter recalcitrance (aromaticity) was not found as a general driver of either hydrolase or oxidase C-enzyme potential activities, though we did observe higher C-enzyme activities led to an increase of particulate organic matter recalcitrance in the summer season. Overall, our results highlight the seasonality of climate change effects on soil organic matter enzymatic decomposition, providing a comprehensive picture of seasonal potential cause and effect relationships governing C mineralization in subalpine grasslands.

AB - In mountain ecosystems with marked seasonality, climate change can affect various processes in soils, potentially modifying long-term key soil services via change in soil organic carbon (C) storage. Based on a four-year soil transplantation experiment in Swiss subalpine grasslands, we investigated how imposed climate warming and reduced precipitation modified the drivers of soil carbon enzyme potential activities across winter and summer seasons. Specifically, we used structural equation models (SEMs) to identify biotic (microbial community structure, abundance and activity) and abiotic (quantity and quality of organic matter resources) drivers of soil C-enzymes (hydrolase and oxidase) in two seasons under two different climate scenarios. We found contrasting impacts of the climate manipulation on the drivers of C-enzymes between winter and summer. In winter, no direct effect of climate manipulation (reduced rainfall and warming) on enzyme activity was observed. Yet, climate indirectly down-regulated enzyme activity through a decrease in the availability of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) labile resources. During summer, reduced soil moisture –induced by the climate manipulation– directly reduced soil microbial biomass, which led to a decrease in C-enzyme activity. In general, across both seasons, neither microbial community structure, nor organic matter quality were strong determinants of enzymatic activity. In particular organic matter recalcitrance (aromaticity) was not found as a general driver of either hydrolase or oxidase C-enzyme potential activities, though we did observe higher C-enzyme activities led to an increase of particulate organic matter recalcitrance in the summer season. Overall, our results highlight the seasonality of climate change effects on soil organic matter enzymatic decomposition, providing a comprehensive picture of seasonal potential cause and effect relationships governing C mineralization in subalpine grasslands.

KW - Climate manipulation

KW - Path analysis

KW - Recalcitrance

KW - Soil microbial communities

KW - Soil organic matter fractions

KW - Structural equation models

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050292810&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023

DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.06.023

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85050292810

SN - 0038-0717

VL - 124

SP - 266

EP - 274

JO - Soil Biology and Biochemistry

JF - Soil Biology and Biochemistry

ER -

Seasonality alters drivers of soil enzyme activity in subalpine grassland soil undergoing climate change

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Cite this