Dynamics of microbial community composition and soil organic carbon mineralization in soil following addition of pyrogenic and fresh organic matter
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Abstract
Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) additions to soils can have large impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling. As the soil microbial community drives SOC fluxes, understanding how PyOM additions affect soil microbes is essential to understanding how PyOM affects SOC. We studied SOC dynamics and surveyed soil bacterial communities after OM additions in a field experiment. We produced and mixed in either 350 °C corn stover PyOM or an equivalent initial amount of dried corn stover to a Typic Fragiudept soil. Stover increased SOC-derived and total CO2 fluxes (up to 6x), and caused rapid and persistent changes in bacterial community composition over 82 days. In contrast, PyOM only temporarily increased total soil CO2 fluxes (up to 2x) and caused fewer changes in bacterial community composition. Of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) that increased in response to PyOM additions, 70% also responded to stover additions. These OTUs likely thrive on easily mineralizable carbon (C) that is found both in stover and, to a lesser extent, in PyOM. In contrast, we also identified unique PyOM responders, which may respond to substrates such as polyaromatic C. In particular, members of Gemmatimonadetes tended to increase in relative abundance in response to PyOM but not to fresh organic matter. We identify taxa to target for future investigations of the mechanistic underpinnings of ecological phenomena associated with PyOM additions to soil.
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After corn straw amendment, bacterial community composition changed rapidly, with major changes at 12 days; by day 82 composition was more similar but still clearly different from day 1.
“Whitman et al. (2016) reported rapid changes in the bacterial community composition after corn straw amendment.Major changes in community composition were observed 12 days after the amendment, whereas the composition was again more similar at day 82, but still clearly different from day 1.”
From Comparing straw, compost, and biochar regarding their suitability as agricultural soil amendments to affect soil structure, nutrient leaching, microbial communities, and the fate of pesticides (2021) · cites this paper as Whitman et al., 2016
About 10% of bacterial operational taxonomic units responded to straw addition.
“About 10% of the bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) responded to straw addition (Whitman et al., 2016).”
From Comparing straw, compost, and biochar regarding their suitability as agricultural soil amendments to affect soil structure, nutrient leaching, microbial communities, and the fate of pesticides (2021) · cites this paper as Whitman et al., 2016
In an 82-day US field trial, biochar addition caused rapid and persistent changes in the bacterial community that were absent when fresh organic matter was applied.
“In an 82-day field trial in the US, rapid and persistent changes of the bacterial community upon addition of biochar were observed, that were absent when fresh OM was applied (Whitman et al., 2016).”
From Comparing straw, compost, and biochar regarding their suitability as agricultural soil amendments to affect soil structure, nutrient leaching, microbial communities, and the fate of pesticides (2021) · cites this paper as Whitman et al., 2016
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- Authors
- Whitman, T., Pepe-Ranney, C., Enders, A., Koechli, C., Campbell, A., Buckley, D. H., & Lehmann, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University , Ithaca, NY, USA
- Cornell University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Whitman, Thea
- Venue
- The ISME Journal
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2016-04-29
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2918-2930
- ISSN
- 1751-7362 (ISSN-L)
- 1751-7370
- PMC
- PMC5148190
- OpenAlex
- W2950135557
- Cited by
- 173
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 19.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The ISME Journal (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0965336)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DESC0016364)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (IOS-0965336, 2014-67003-22069)
- Towards Sustainability Foundation
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (2014-67003-22069)
- David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future , Cornell University
- Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Fire effects on ecosystems
- Keywords
- pyrogenic organic matter, soil organic carbon mineralization, soil bacterial community composition, soil CO2 flux, corn stover, soil carbon cycling, Gemmatimonadetes, soil microbial dynamics
- MeSH terms
- Bacteria, Carbon, Soil, Soil Microbiology, Carbon Cycle
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