Historical forest disturbance reduces soil microbial efficiency across multiple carbon sources

Ernest D. Osburn; Steven G. McBride; J. E. Barrett

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108542

Historical forest disturbance reduces soil microbial efficiency across multiple carbon sources

Ernest D. Osburn
, Steven G. McBride
, J. E. Barrett

Plant and Soil Sciences

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

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We measured the catabolic responses of soils to several classes of carbon (C) compounds to characterize the C metabolism of microbial communities in forest ecosystems subject to long-term disturbances at the USFS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina, USA. Catabolic profiles were distinct between reference and disturbed forest soils when adjusted to microbial biomass, reflecting higher biomass-specific respiration responses to all substrates in disturbed soils. However, only amino acid metabolism exhibited differences between land uses (i.e., disturbed > reference) when expressed as percentages of total C respired. Overall, we observed a general reduction in microbial efficiency across all substrates and greater overall metabolism of some substrates in disturbed soils. These results suggest that disturbed soil microbial communities could drive alterations to soil C cycling by altering the distribution of C amongst different pools in these forests.

Original language	English
Article number	108542
Journal	Soil Biology and Biochemistry
Volume	165
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108542
State	Published - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

This work was funded by the Coweeta LTER, funded by National Science Foundation grant DEB-1637522 . We thank the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service for support and Angela Weisel for assistance with field soil sampling and laboratory analyses. We also thank Bobbie Niederlehner for help with analytical chemistry. This work was funded by the Coweeta LTER, funded by National Science Foundation grant DEB-1637522. We thank the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, Southern Research Station, USDA Forest Service for support and Angela Weisel for assistance with field soil sampling and laboratory analyses. We also thank Bobbie Niederlehner for help with analytical chemistry.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program	DEB-1637522
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Service

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

Carbon
Catabolic profile
Disturbance
Forest
Management
Microbial community

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Microbiology
Soil Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108542

Cite this

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title = "Historical forest disturbance reduces soil microbial efficiency across multiple carbon sources",

abstract = "We measured the catabolic responses of soils to several classes of carbon (C) compounds to characterize the C metabolism of microbial communities in forest ecosystems subject to long-term disturbances at the USFS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina, USA. Catabolic profiles were distinct between reference and disturbed forest soils when adjusted to microbial biomass, reflecting higher biomass-specific respiration responses to all substrates in disturbed soils. However, only amino acid metabolism exhibited differences between land uses (i.e., disturbed > reference) when expressed as percentages of total C respired. Overall, we observed a general reduction in microbial efficiency across all substrates and greater overall metabolism of some substrates in disturbed soils. These results suggest that disturbed soil microbial communities could drive alterations to soil C cycling by altering the distribution of C amongst different pools in these forests.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108542",

language = "English",

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AU - Osburn, Ernest D.

AU - McBride, Steven G.

AU - Barrett, J. E.

PY - 2022/2

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N2 - We measured the catabolic responses of soils to several classes of carbon (C) compounds to characterize the C metabolism of microbial communities in forest ecosystems subject to long-term disturbances at the USFS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina, USA. Catabolic profiles were distinct between reference and disturbed forest soils when adjusted to microbial biomass, reflecting higher biomass-specific respiration responses to all substrates in disturbed soils. However, only amino acid metabolism exhibited differences between land uses (i.e., disturbed > reference) when expressed as percentages of total C respired. Overall, we observed a general reduction in microbial efficiency across all substrates and greater overall metabolism of some substrates in disturbed soils. These results suggest that disturbed soil microbial communities could drive alterations to soil C cycling by altering the distribution of C amongst different pools in these forests.

AB - We measured the catabolic responses of soils to several classes of carbon (C) compounds to characterize the C metabolism of microbial communities in forest ecosystems subject to long-term disturbances at the USFS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina, USA. Catabolic profiles were distinct between reference and disturbed forest soils when adjusted to microbial biomass, reflecting higher biomass-specific respiration responses to all substrates in disturbed soils. However, only amino acid metabolism exhibited differences between land uses (i.e., disturbed > reference) when expressed as percentages of total C respired. Overall, we observed a general reduction in microbial efficiency across all substrates and greater overall metabolism of some substrates in disturbed soils. These results suggest that disturbed soil microbial communities could drive alterations to soil C cycling by altering the distribution of C amongst different pools in these forests.

KW - Carbon

KW - Catabolic profile

KW - Disturbance

KW - Forest

KW - Management

KW - Microbial community

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JO - Soil Biology and Biochemistry

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ER -

Historical forest disturbance reduces soil microbial efficiency across multiple carbon sources

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this