Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition
Earthworms are keystone regulators of carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. However, exactly how earthworms regulate the composition of microbial and plant-derived carbon in soil organic matter remains poorly understood. Here we conducted a microcosm experiment with two...
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Elsevier
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Geoderma |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124002696 |
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| author | Jiahui Liao Juanping Ni Xiaoming Zou Han Y.H. Chen Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo Yuanyuan Li Tingting Ren Ke Shi Honghua Ruan |
| author_facet | Jiahui Liao Juanping Ni Xiaoming Zou Han Y.H. Chen Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo Yuanyuan Li Tingting Ren Ke Shi Honghua Ruan |
| author_sort | Jiahui Liao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Earthworms are keystone regulators of carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. However, exactly how earthworms regulate the composition of microbial and plant-derived carbon in soil organic matter remains poorly understood. Here we conducted a microcosm experiment with two species of endogeic earthworms (Drawida gisti and Metaphire guillelmi) to investigate their effects on cellular and extracellular-microbial residues versus fast and slow-decaying plant materials. We found that both species of earthworms reduced microbial residues (amino sugars or the protein content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)) and facilitated the decomposition of microbial residues rather than their formation. Neither earthworm species affected slow-decaying plant residues (lignin phenols). However, their effects on the fast-decaying fraction of plant residues (particulate organic matter (POM)) depended on the earthworm species. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that earthworms mediated two gradients between microbial and plant residues. The first gradient was between the nitrogenous fraction of microbial residues (e.g., amino sugars and EPS-protein) versus slow-decaying plant lignin, while the second gradient was between the fast-decaying POM versus EPS-polysaccharide. Our results suggest that earthworms play vital roles in mediating plant and microbial residue fractions in soil through their multifaceted mechanisms in regulating the chemical composition of organic carbon, and in understanding biological control of the global soil carbon cycle. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6ce4e0a5c81347a1ad2a6f961d70362e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1872-6259 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
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| series | Geoderma |
| spelling | doaj-art-6ce4e0a5c81347a1ad2a6f961d70362e2025-08-20T02:17:00ZengElsevierGeoderma1872-62592024-10-0145011704010.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117040Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decompositionJiahui Liao0Juanping Ni1Xiaoming Zou2Han Y.H. Chen3Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo4Yuanyuan Li5Tingting Ren6Ke Shi7Honghua Ruan8Department of Ecology, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaDepartment of Environmental Science, Facundo Bueso Bldg. Room 02, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR 00931, USAFaculty of Natural Resources Management, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, CanadaLaboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC, Av. Reina Mercedes 10, E-41012 Sevilla, SpainSchool of Food Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaDepartment of Ecology, Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; Corresponding author.Earthworms are keystone regulators of carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. However, exactly how earthworms regulate the composition of microbial and plant-derived carbon in soil organic matter remains poorly understood. Here we conducted a microcosm experiment with two species of endogeic earthworms (Drawida gisti and Metaphire guillelmi) to investigate their effects on cellular and extracellular-microbial residues versus fast and slow-decaying plant materials. We found that both species of earthworms reduced microbial residues (amino sugars or the protein content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)) and facilitated the decomposition of microbial residues rather than their formation. Neither earthworm species affected slow-decaying plant residues (lignin phenols). However, their effects on the fast-decaying fraction of plant residues (particulate organic matter (POM)) depended on the earthworm species. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that earthworms mediated two gradients between microbial and plant residues. The first gradient was between the nitrogenous fraction of microbial residues (e.g., amino sugars and EPS-protein) versus slow-decaying plant lignin, while the second gradient was between the fast-decaying POM versus EPS-polysaccharide. Our results suggest that earthworms play vital roles in mediating plant and microbial residue fractions in soil through their multifaceted mechanisms in regulating the chemical composition of organic carbon, and in understanding biological control of the global soil carbon cycle.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124002696BiofilmDecompositionSoil faunaSoil microbial carbon pumpStructural carbohydrate |
| spellingShingle | Jiahui Liao Juanping Ni Xiaoming Zou Han Y.H. Chen Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo Yuanyuan Li Tingting Ren Ke Shi Honghua Ruan Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition Geoderma Biofilm Decomposition Soil fauna Soil microbial carbon pump Structural carbohydrate |
| title | Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| title_full | Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| title_fullStr | Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| title_full_unstemmed | Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| title_short | Earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| title_sort | earthworms regulate soil microbial and plant residues through decomposition |
| topic | Biofilm Decomposition Soil fauna Soil microbial carbon pump Structural carbohydrate |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706124002696 |
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