Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 18, 2026

Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment
Published on: October 28, 2022
Soil Carbon Availability Drives Depth-Dependent Responses of Microbial Nitrogen Use Efficiency to Warming
Qiufang Zhang1,2, Wenkuan Qin2,3, Xiaojie Li2,4
1School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China.
None:
Microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) describes the partitioning of organic N between microbial growth and N mineralization, which is crucial for assessing soil N retention. However, how warming affects NUE along soil depth remains unclear. Based on a whole-soil-profile warming experiment (0 to 100 cm, +4°C) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, combined with 18O and 15N isotope labeling techniques, we determined soil carbon (C) composition, edaphic properties, and microbial parameters. The results showed that NUE declined with soil depth in both control and warming treatments, driven by microbial C limitation. The response of NUE to warming varied with soil depth. Warming reduced topsoil (0-30 cm) microbial N growth, ultimately leading to a decrease in NUE, but had no effect in deep soils (30-100 cm). Jointly, these findings highlight that warming may exacerbate soil N loss in topsoil, and that maintaining microbial C and N availability could be a key strategy for preserving microbial N sequestration under warming conditions.
Related Concept Videos
Inorganic Nitrogen Assimilation
Carbon-dioxide Fixation
Environmental Applications of Microorganisms
The Roles of Bacteria and Fungi in Plant Nutrition
Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this...
Metabolism of Chemolithotrophs

