Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. Biogeochemical plant-soil microbe feedback in response to climate warming in peatlands
 
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
research article

Biogeochemical plant-soil microbe feedback in response to climate warming in peatlands

Bragazza, Luca  
•
Parisod, Julien  
•
Buttler, Alexandre  
Show more
2013
Nature Climate Change

Peatlands act as global sinks of atmospheric carbon (C) through the accumulation of organic matter(1), primarily made up of decay-resistant litter of peat mosses(2). However, climate warming has been shown to promote vascular plant growth in peatlands, especially ericaceous shrubs(3). A change in vegetation cover is in turn expected to modify above-ground/below-ground interactions(4), but the biogeochemical mechanisms involved remain unknown. Here, by selecting peatlands at different altitudes to simulate a natural gradient of soil temperature, we show that the expansion of ericaceous shrubs with warming is associated with an increase of polyphenol content in both plant litter and pore water. In turn, this retards the release of nitrogen (N) from decomposing litter, increases the amount of dissolved organic N and reduces N immobilization by soil microbes. A decrease of soil water content with increasing temperature promotes the growth of fungi, which feeds back positively on ericaceous shrubs by facilitating the symbiotic acquisition of dissolved organic N. We also observed a higher release of labile C from vascular plant roots at higher soil temperatures, which promotes the microbial investment in C-degrading enzymes. Our data suggest that climate-induced changes in plant cover can reduce the productivity of peat mosses and potentially prime the decomposition of organic matter by affecting the stoichiometry of soil enzymatic activity.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/Nclimate1781
Web of Science ID

WOS:000319399000024

Author(s)
Bragazza, Luca  
•
Parisod, Julien  
•
Buttler, Alexandre  
•
Bardgett, Richard D.
Date Issued

2013

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Published in
Nature Climate Change
Volume

3

Issue

3

Start page

273

End page

277

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
ECOS  
Available on Infoscience
October 1, 2013
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/95154
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés