Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential
Abstract Soil microbes are a major source of organic residues that accumulate as soil organic matter, the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon on Earth. As such, there is growing interest in determining the microbial traits that drive soil organic matter formation and stabilization; however, whet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53947-2 |
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| _version_ | 1846147569030266880 |
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| author | Emily D. Whalen A. Stuart Grandy Kevin M. Geyer Eric W. Morrison Serita D. Frey |
| author_facet | Emily D. Whalen A. Stuart Grandy Kevin M. Geyer Eric W. Morrison Serita D. Frey |
| author_sort | Emily D. Whalen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Soil microbes are a major source of organic residues that accumulate as soil organic matter, the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon on Earth. As such, there is growing interest in determining the microbial traits that drive soil organic matter formation and stabilization; however, whether certain microbial traits consistently predict soil organic matter accumulation across different functional pools (e.g., total vs. stable soil organic matter) is unresolved. To address these uncertainties, we incubated individual species of fungi in soil organic matter-free model soils, allowing us to directly relate the physiological, morphological, and biochemical traits of fungi to their soil organic matter formation potentials. We find that the formation of different soil organic matter functional pools is associated with distinct fungal traits, and that ‘multifunctional’ species with intermediate investment across this key grouping of traits (namely, carbon use efficiency, growth rate, turnover rate, and biomass protein and phenol contents) promote soil organic matter formation, functional complexity, and stability. Our results highlight the limitations of categorical trait-based frameworks that describe binary trade-offs between microbial traits, instead emphasizing the importance of synergies among microbial traits for the formation of functionally complex soil organic matter. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3a40824502764c10916f6ea52306b5c7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-3a40824502764c10916f6ea52306b5c72024-12-01T12:35:15ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-11-0115111610.1038/s41467-024-53947-2Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potentialEmily D. Whalen0A. Stuart Grandy1Kevin M. Geyer2Eric W. Morrison3Serita D. Frey4Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New HampshireDepartment of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New HampshireDepartment of Biology, Young Harris CollegeDepartment of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New HampshireDepartment of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of New HampshireAbstract Soil microbes are a major source of organic residues that accumulate as soil organic matter, the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon on Earth. As such, there is growing interest in determining the microbial traits that drive soil organic matter formation and stabilization; however, whether certain microbial traits consistently predict soil organic matter accumulation across different functional pools (e.g., total vs. stable soil organic matter) is unresolved. To address these uncertainties, we incubated individual species of fungi in soil organic matter-free model soils, allowing us to directly relate the physiological, morphological, and biochemical traits of fungi to their soil organic matter formation potentials. We find that the formation of different soil organic matter functional pools is associated with distinct fungal traits, and that ‘multifunctional’ species with intermediate investment across this key grouping of traits (namely, carbon use efficiency, growth rate, turnover rate, and biomass protein and phenol contents) promote soil organic matter formation, functional complexity, and stability. Our results highlight the limitations of categorical trait-based frameworks that describe binary trade-offs between microbial traits, instead emphasizing the importance of synergies among microbial traits for the formation of functionally complex soil organic matter.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53947-2 |
| spellingShingle | Emily D. Whalen A. Stuart Grandy Kevin M. Geyer Eric W. Morrison Serita D. Frey Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential Nature Communications |
| title | Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| title_full | Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| title_fullStr | Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| title_short | Microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| title_sort | microbial trait multifunctionality drives soil organic matter formation potential |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53947-2 |
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