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Mycorrhizal Hyphal Turnover as a Dominant Process for Carbon Input into Soil Organic Matter

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Abstract

The atmospheric concentration of CO2 is predicted to reach double current levels by 2075. Detritus from aboveground and belowground plant parts constitutes the primary source of C for soil organic matter (SOM), and accumulation of SOM in forests may provide a significant mechanism to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. In a poplar (three species) plantation exposed to ambient (380 ppm) and elevated (580 ppm) atmospheric CO2 concentrations using a Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) system, the relative importance of leaf litter decomposition, fine root and fungal turnover for C incorporation into SOM was investigated. A technique using cores of soil in which a C4 crop has been grown (δ13C −18.1‰) inserted into the plantation and detritus from C3 trees (δ13C −27 to −30‰) was used to distinguish between old (native soil) and new (tree derived) soil C. In-growth cores using a fine mesh (39 μm) to prevent in-growth of roots, but allow in-growth of fungal hyphae were used to assess contribution of fine roots and the mycorrhizal external mycelium to soil C during a period of three growing seasons (1999–2001). Across all species and treatments, the mycorrhizal external mycelium was the dominant pathway (62%) through which carbon entered the SOM pool, exceeding the input via leaf litter and fine root turnover. The input via the mycorrhizal external mycelium was not influenced by elevated CO2, but elevated atmospheric CO2 enhanced soil C inputs via fine root turnover. The turnover of the mycorrhizal external mycelium may be a fundamental mechanism for the transfer of root-derived C to SOM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Wales, LL57 2UW, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK

    Douglas L. Godbold & Martin Lukac

  2. Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 37, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Marcel R. Hoosbeek & Eef J. Velthorst

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Via Vivaldi 43, I-80110, Caserta, Italy

    M. Francesca Cotrufo

  4. Department of Biology, University of Antwerpen (UA), Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610, Wilrijk, Belgium

    Ivan A. Janssens & Reinhart Ceulemans

  5. Institut für Forstbotanik, Universität Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Andrea Polle

  6. Di.S.A.F.Ri., Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Via S. Camillo De Lellis, I-01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza & Paolo De Angelis

  7. Insitute of Biometeorology, IBIMET-CNR, P.le delle Cascine 18, I-50144, Firenze, Italy

    Franco Miglietta

  8. Dipartimento Produzione Vegetale eTechnologie Ambientali, Università di Udine 208, Via delle Scienze, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Alessandro Peressotti

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  1. Douglas L. Godbold
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  2. Marcel R. Hoosbeek
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  3. Martin Lukac
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  4. M. Francesca Cotrufo
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  5. Ivan A. Janssens
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  6. Reinhart Ceulemans
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  7. Andrea Polle
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  8. Eef J. Velthorst
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  9. Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza
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  10. Paolo De Angelis
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  11. Franco Miglietta
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  12. Alessandro Peressotti
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Correspondence to Douglas L. Godbold.

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Godbold, D.L., Hoosbeek, M.R., Lukac, M. et al. Mycorrhizal Hyphal Turnover as a Dominant Process for Carbon Input into Soil Organic Matter. Plant Soil 281, 15–24 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-005-3701-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-005-3701-6

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