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Nitrogen availability regulates topsoil carbon dynamics after permafrost thaw by altering microbial metabolic
Leiyi Chen1, Li Liu1,2, Chao Mao1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100093, Beijing, China.
Nature Communications
|September 29, 2018
Summary
Adding carbon to thawing permafrost can affect soil organic matter decomposition. Increased nitrogen availability after permafrost thaw, not enzyme activity, reduces this priming effect by boosting microbial efficiency.
Area of Science:
- Soil Science
- Microbiology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Labile carbon input can stimulate soil organic matter decomposition (priming effect).
- Priming effect intensity is influenced by nitrogen availability following permafrost thaw.
- Experimental evidence linking priming effect and post-thaw nitrogen is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if elevated nitrogen availability after permafrost thaw inhibits the priming effect.
- To investigate the role of microbial metabolic efficiency in regulating the priming effect.
- To understand the impact of nitrogen on carbon dynamics in thawing permafrost regions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a natural nitrogen gradient created by thermokarst in permafrost regions.
- Conducted a nitrogen addition experiment to manipulate soil nitrogen levels.
- Measured priming intensity, soil total dissolved nitrogen, extracellular enzyme activities, and microbial metabolic efficiency.
Main Results:
- A negative correlation was observed between priming intensity and soil total dissolved nitrogen concentration.
- Nitrogen addition significantly reduced the priming effect.
- The regulation of priming intensity by nitrogen was linked to microbial metabolic efficiency, not extracellular enzyme activities.
Conclusions:
- Post-thaw nitrogen availability inhibits the priming effect in thawing permafrost soils.
- Increased microbial metabolic efficiency, driven by nitrogen availability, is the key mechanism.
- This finding challenges prevailing views and highlights nitrogen's role in regulating carbon dynamics in permafrost ecosystems.
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