Physicochemically protected organic carbon release is the rate-limiting step of rhizosphere priming in paddy soils

Iron oxides affect the stability of soil organic matter (SOM), which in turn affects greenhouse gas emissions in paddy soils. They also regulate the direction and magnitude of the rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) by restricting SOM accessibility and microbial activity. However, the controlling steps and key factors that regulate the RPE magnitude under anoxic conditions are unknown. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms through which Fe(III) reduction affects the RPE using humic acid as an electron shuttle in paddy soils and conducting continuous ¹³CO₂ labeling of rice plants. The RPE, measured via CO₂ emission, was approximately 25 % greater in soils with humic acid than in soils without. A rapid increase in the RPE of CH₄ emissions after 41 days was attenuated in soils containing humic acid. Root growth and Fe(III) reduction stimulated the total primed CO₂ emissions from the rhizosphere independent of the microbial biomass and enzyme activities. Humic acid accelerated Fe(III) reduction, leading to a decrease in Fe-bound organic carbon and an increase in RPE (CO₂ emissions). The rhizosphere-primed CO₂ emissions decreased with increasing amounts of reactive Fe(III) (oxyhydr)oxides, which protected the SOM from microbial and enzymatic attacks. Biochemical Fe(III) reduction and physical aggregate destruction controlled the abiotic transformation of inaccessible SOM into bioavailable organic carbon, thereby regulating the RPE. The results suggest that the reduction of reactive Fe(III) minerals is the rate-limiting step in the release of the physicochemically protected SOM, which in turn determines the magnitude of rhizosphere priming in paddy soils.