Responses of vascular plant fine roots and associated microbial communities to whole-ecosystem warming and elevated CO2 in northern peatlands

Abstract

Warming and elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) are expected to facilitate vascular plant encroachment in peatlands. The rhizosphere, where microbial activity is fueled by root turnover and exudates, plays a crucial role in biogeochemical cycling, and will likely at least partially dictate the response of the belowground carbon cycle to climate changes. We leveraged the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments (SPRUCE) experiment, to explore the effects of a whole-ecosystem warming gradient (+0°C to 9°C) and eCO₂ on vascular plant fine roots and their associated microbes. We combined trait-based approaches with the profiling of fungal and prokaryote communities in plant roots and rhizospheres, through amplicon sequencing. Warming promoted self-reliance for resource uptake in trees and shrubs, while saprophytic fungi and putative chemoorganoheterotrophic bacteria utilizing plant-derived carbon substrates were favored in the root zone. Conversely, eCO₂ promoted associations between trees and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Trees mostly associated with short-distance exploration-type fungi that preferentially use labile soil N. Additionally, eCO₂ decreased the relative abundance of saprotrophs in tree roots. Our results indicate that plant fine-root trait variation is a crucial mechanism through which vascular plants in peatlands respond to climate change via their influence on microbial communities that regulate biogeochemical cycles.

Keywords: associations between fungi and plant hosts; atmospheric CO2 enrichment; belowground plant traits; boreal peatlands; fungal and bacterial communities; terrestrial nutrient cycle; warming.