Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient

Abstract Mineral preservation and microbial residue production are vital for the accumulation of mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC) in soils. However, their relative importance and interactive effects remain unclear. Here MAOC content and composition are analyzed in tandem with soil mineral an...

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Main Authors: Erxiong Zhu, Zongguang Liu, Lixiao Ma, Jianing Luo, Enze Kang, Ya Wang, Yunpeng Zhao, Juan Jia, Xiaojuan Feng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-03-01
Series:Geophysical Research Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108466
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author Erxiong Zhu
Zongguang Liu
Lixiao Ma
Jianing Luo
Enze Kang
Ya Wang
Yunpeng Zhao
Juan Jia
Xiaojuan Feng
author_facet Erxiong Zhu
Zongguang Liu
Lixiao Ma
Jianing Luo
Enze Kang
Ya Wang
Yunpeng Zhao
Juan Jia
Xiaojuan Feng
author_sort Erxiong Zhu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Mineral preservation and microbial residue production are vital for the accumulation of mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC) in soils. However, their relative importance and interactive effects remain unclear. Here MAOC content and composition are analyzed in tandem with soil mineral and microbial attributes along a weathering gradient on a volcanic soil sequence. We find that MAOC content increases with increasing mineral weathering states, accompanied by increasing microbial contribution to MAOC. Mineral attributes rather than microbial physiological traits are strongly related to MAOC contents, suggesting that weathering‐enhanced mineral preservation capacity overrides microbial residue production in governing MAOC accumulation by increasing reactive minerals. Furthermore, mineral attributes have a strong interactive effect with microbial traits on MAOC accumulation and composition, likely related to increasing fungal abundance in the microbial community with increasing weathering. These findings highlight that mineral weathering may effectively boost persistent SOC in synergy with microbial conversion in the long term.
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institution OA Journals
issn 0094-8276
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language English
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Geophysical Research Letters
spelling doaj-art-a68ec86fe5794a449a94cec68461228e2025-08-20T01:51:57ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072024-03-01516n/an/a10.1029/2024GL108466Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering GradientErxiong Zhu0Zongguang Liu1Lixiao Ma2Jianing Luo3Enze Kang4Ya Wang5Yunpeng Zhao6Juan Jia7Xiaojuan Feng8State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaState Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change Institute of Botany Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaAbstract Mineral preservation and microbial residue production are vital for the accumulation of mineral‐associated organic carbon (MAOC) in soils. However, their relative importance and interactive effects remain unclear. Here MAOC content and composition are analyzed in tandem with soil mineral and microbial attributes along a weathering gradient on a volcanic soil sequence. We find that MAOC content increases with increasing mineral weathering states, accompanied by increasing microbial contribution to MAOC. Mineral attributes rather than microbial physiological traits are strongly related to MAOC contents, suggesting that weathering‐enhanced mineral preservation capacity overrides microbial residue production in governing MAOC accumulation by increasing reactive minerals. Furthermore, mineral attributes have a strong interactive effect with microbial traits on MAOC accumulation and composition, likely related to increasing fungal abundance in the microbial community with increasing weathering. These findings highlight that mineral weathering may effectively boost persistent SOC in synergy with microbial conversion in the long term.https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108466mineral‐associated organic carbonmineral preservationmicrobial residue productionweathering gradientreactive mineralspersistent SOC pools
spellingShingle Erxiong Zhu
Zongguang Liu
Lixiao Ma
Jianing Luo
Enze Kang
Ya Wang
Yunpeng Zhao
Juan Jia
Xiaojuan Feng
Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
Geophysical Research Letters
mineral‐associated organic carbon
mineral preservation
microbial residue production
weathering gradient
reactive minerals
persistent SOC pools
title Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
title_full Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
title_fullStr Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
title_full_unstemmed Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
title_short Enhanced Mineral Preservation Rather Than Microbial Residue Production Dictates the Accrual of Mineral‐Associated Organic Carbon Along a Weathering Gradient
title_sort enhanced mineral preservation rather than microbial residue production dictates the accrual of mineral associated organic carbon along a weathering gradient
topic mineral‐associated organic carbon
mineral preservation
microbial residue production
weathering gradient
reactive minerals
persistent SOC pools
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108466
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