Regulation of priming effect by soil organic matter stability over a broad geographic scale

Leiyi Chen; Li Liu; Shuqi Qin; Guibiao Yang; Kai Fang; Biao Zhu; Yakov Kuzyakov; Pengdong Chen; Yunping Xu; Yuanhe Yang

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13119-z

Regulation of priming effect by soil organic matter stability over a broad geographic scale

Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 8;10(1):5112. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13119-z.

Authors

Leiyi Chen¹, Li Liu^{1

2}, Shuqi Qin^{1

2}, Guibiao Yang^{1

2}, Kai Fang^{1

2}, Biao Zhu³, Yakov Kuzyakov^{4

5

6}, Pengdong Chen^{1

7}, Yunping Xu⁸, Yuanhe Yang^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
³ Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
⁴ Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
⁵ Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
⁶ Agro-Technological Institute, RUDN University, Moscow, 117198, Russia.
⁷ College of Life Sciences, Ludong University, Yantai, 264025, China.
⁸ Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Hadal Science and Technology, College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China.
⁹ State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China. yhyang@ibcas.ac.cn.
¹⁰ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. yhyang@ibcas.ac.cn.

Abstract

The modification of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition by plant carbon (C) input (priming effect) represents a critical biogeochemical process that controls soil C dynamics. However, the patterns and drivers of the priming effect remain hidden, especially over broad geographic scales under various climate and soil conditions. By combining systematic field and laboratory analyses based on multiple analytical and statistical approaches, we explore the determinants of priming intensity along a 2200 km grassland transect on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results show that SOM stability characterized by chemical recalcitrance and physico-chemical protection explains more variance in the priming effect than plant, soil and microbial properties. High priming intensity (up to 137% of basal respiration) is associated with complex SOM chemical structures and low mineral-organic associations. The dependence of priming effect on SOM stabilization mechanisms should be considered in Earth System Models to accurately predict soil C dynamics under changing environments.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't