Dataset Information

Soil microbial respiration adapts to ambient temperature in global drylands.

ABSTRACT: Heterotrophic soil microbial respiration-one of the main processes of carbon loss from the soil to the atmosphere-is sensitive to temperature in the short term. However, how this sensitivity is affected by long-term thermal regimes is uncertain. There is an expectation that soil microbial respiration rates adapt to the ambient thermal regime, but whether this adaptation magnifies or reduces respiration sensitivities to temperature fluctuations remains unresolved. This gap in understanding is particularly pronounced for drylands because most studies conducted so far have focused on mesic systems. Here, we conduct an incubation study using soil samples from 110 global drylands encompassing a wide gradient in mean annual temperature. We test how mean annual temperature affects soil respiration rates at three assay temperatures while controlling for substrate depletion and microbial biomass. Estimated soil respiration rates at the mean microbial biomass were lower in sites with higher mean annual temperatures across the three assayed temperatures. The patterns observed are consistent with expected evolutionary trade-offs in the structure and function of enzymes under different thermal regimes. Therefore, our results suggest that soil microbial respiration adapts to the ambient thermal regime in global drylands.

SUBMITTER: Dacal M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6420078 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Soil microbial respiration adapts to ambient temperature in global drylands.

Dacal Marina M Bradford Mark A MA Plaza César C Maestre Fernando T FT García-Palacios Pablo P

Nature ecology & evolution 20190114 2

Heterotrophic soil microbial respiration-one of the main processes of carbon loss from the soil to the atmosphere-is sensitive to temperature in the short term. However, how this sensitivity is affected by long-term thermal regimes is uncertain. There is an expectation that soil microbial respiration rates adapt to the ambient thermal regime, but whether this adaptation magnifies or reduces respiration sensitivities to temperature fluctuations remains unresolved. This gap in understanding is par ...[more]

PMID: 30643242

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Project description:AimGeographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition.Location224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents.MethodsBeta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake's beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R2)), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables.ResultsSoil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R2)) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm).Main conclusionsSoil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate conservation strategies for mitigating effects of climate change on dryland vegetation.

Dataset Information

Soil microbial respiration adapts to ambient temperature in global drylands.

Publications

Soil microbial respiration adapts to ambient temperature in global drylands.

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