Available carbon is the most active part of the soil carbon pool. It is also the main carbon source of soil microbes and plays an important role in the processes of soil organic carbon mineralization and accumulation. However, the mechanisms are still not clear how soil organic carbon mineralization and its priming effect (PE) are affected by different input levels of readily available carbon, based on the growth requirements of microbes in paddy soil. In this study, an incubation experiment was conducted by adding different levels (0.5, 1, 3, and 5 times of MBC) of exogenous source organic carbon (13C-glucose) to the soil. The mineralization dynamics of labile organic carbon and its priming effect was investigated. The mineralization rate of glucose-C increased significantly with the increasing carbon loading level. The distribution of glucose-C into rapid and slow C pools was also exponentially correlated with the carbon loading (R2=0.99, P<0.05 and R2=0.99, P<0.05, respectively). Negative PE was observed at high carbon loading (3×MBC and 5×MBC); while positive PE was induced by low carbon loading (0.5×MBC and 1×MBC). The cumulative PE was 160.0 mg·kg-1 and 325.1 mg·kg-1, respectively, at the end of the incubation. Redundancy analysis showed that the main factors affecting the cumulative PE were MBC, MBN, and DOC at the initial glucose mineralization stage, while β-glucosidase, chitinase, and ammonium nitrogen were the main factors at later stages. Therefore, the readily available carbon loading has an important effect on the organic carbon mineralization and PE in paddy soil. Higher carbon loading was good for the accumulation of organic carbon sequestration in paddy soil. This study is of great scientific significance for revealing the activity of organic carbon in paddy fields and for its contribution to the development of sustainable agriculture.
Keywords: 13C-labelled glucose; carbon loading; carbon sequestration; paddy soil; priming effect; readily available carbon.