Plants and microorganisms both contribute to soil organic matter formation through mineral interactions: Evidence from a subtropical forest succession

作者：Yiren Zhu, Minghui Hu, Dafeng Hui, Guoxiang Niu, Jianling Li, Xianyu Yao, Yuanliu Hu, Xiaolin Huang, Yonghui Li, Deqiang Zhang, Qi Deng · 发表于：Geoderma · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.geoderma.2024.117099 · 被引用次数：19 · 研究领域：Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Soil Management and Crop Yield、Coal and Its By-products

• SOC accumulation with succession was accompanied by increasing contributions of MAOC. • Microbial necromass increased from early to middle stage but not at the climax stage. • Contributions of lignin phenols and LF + POC to SOC declined with forest succession. • Both plant and microbial pathways contributed to SOC formation. Understanding the formation and stabilization of soil organic carbon (SOC) is essential for predicting SOC dynamics. Traditionally, it was believed that SOC accumulates primarily through the selective retention of recalcitrant plant lignin components. However, an emerging hypothesis suggests that microbial necromass adsorbed onto mineral-associated soil fractions play a more significant role in promoting SOC formation. In this study, we tested the above hypothesis by investigating SOC content, particulate fraction (LF + POC) vs. mineral-associated fraction (MAOC), along with microbial necromass (amino sugars as biomarker) and plant lignin component (lignin phenols as biomarker) in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm) across three successional stages: early coniferous forest, middle mixed forest and climax broadleaved forest in southern China. Results showed that SOC content increased with forest succession, accompanied by increasing contributions of MAOC in both soil layers. Interestingly, the contribution of microbial necromass to SOC increased throughout the succession only in the subsoil, whereas in the topsoil, it increased from the early to...