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Updated: Jul 4, 2025
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Single-throughput Complementary High-resolution Analytical Techniques for Characterizing Complex Natural Organic Matter Mixtures
Published on: January 7, 2019
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Protists regulate microbially mediated organic carbon turnover in soil aggregates.
Hao Liao1,2, Xiuli Hao1,2, Yiting Li1
1National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.
Global Change Biology
|January 26, 2024
Summary
Soil protists regulate soil carbon cycling through trophic interactions. Bacterivore protists negatively impact soil organic matter, while omnivores positively influence it, affecting carbon decomposition and sequestration.
Area of Science:
- Soil Ecology
- Microbiology
- Biogeochemistry
Background:
- Soil protists are key regulators of soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling.
- The influence of protistan trophic interactions on soil organic matter (SOM) turnover is not fully understood.
- Aggregate size fractions significantly impact soil microbial community structure and function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how protistan communities and their trophic interactions influence soil organic carbon turnover across different aggregate sizes.
- To elucidate the role of different protistan functional groups (bacterivores, omnivores) in SOM dynamics.
- To assess the impact of long-term fertilization regimes on these interactions.
Main Methods:
- Sampling of agricultural soil under long-term fertilization.
- Analysis of protistan communities across different aggregate-size fractions.
- Application of partial least square path modeling to assess trophic interactions and their impact on carbon cycling genes and SOM.
- Network analysis to evaluate microbial trophic interactions.
Main Results:
- Aggregate size significantly influenced protistan communities and microbial interactions; bacterivores dominated macroaggregates, while omnivores were more abundant in microaggregates.
- Omnivorous protists positively impacted carbon decomposition genes and SOM, whereas bacterivores showed negative effects.
- Protistan-bacteral associations and network complexity were higher in macroaggregates and silt+clay fractions, with Cercozoans identified as keystone species in SOM degradation.
- Chemical fertilization suppressed SOM degradation in macroaggregates and silt+clay, enhancing soil carbon sequestration.
Conclusions:
- Protist-driven trophic interactions are crucial for regulating soil carbon cycling in agricultural ecosystems.
- Aggregate structure mediates the impact of protistan feeding guilds on SOM turnover.
- Understanding these interactions is vital for predicting soil carbon dynamics under different management practices and environmental conditions.
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