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Carbon quality and nutrient status drive the temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition in subtropical peat soils

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Abstract

Estimates of gaseous carbon (C) fluxes in wetlands are heavily based on temperature. However, isolating specific effects of temperature on anaerobic C processing from other controls (C quality and nutrients) has proven difficult. Here, we test the hypothesis that temperature sensitivity of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition is more influenced by C quality than nutrient availability in subtropical freshwater, sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense)-based peats. Carbon age (characterized by depth: 0–10 and 10–20 cm) was used as a surrogate of C quality while two sites were selected with contrasting levels of nutrient (P) availability. In anaerobic laboratory incubations temperature was increased in 5 °C steps to assess the proportion of C available at a given temperature (i.e. thermo-labile C) as productions of gaseous (CO2 and CH4) and dissolved organic C (DOC) fractions. Thermo-labile C increased 3.1–3.6 times from 15 °C to 30 °C in all soils. Disproportionate increase in the production of gaseous forms versus DOC as well as CH4:CO2 was observed with warming. Observed Q10 values followed the trend of CH4 (~14) ≫ CO2 (~2.5) > DOC (~1.7) and temperature sensitivity was more dependent on C quality than nutrient availability over the entire temperature range. Spectral analysis indicated more bio-available DOC production at higher temperature. Regression analysis also indicated that C quality primarily influenced SOM decomposition at lower temperature, while at higher temperature nutrient limitation dominantly controlled SOM decomposition. These findings confirm the role of C quality in temperature sensitivity of warm peat soils, but also indicate an increased importance of nutrient limitation at higher temperature.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Matt Norton, Yu Wang, Biswanath Dari, and Swati Goswami for their laboratory and field assistance. We would like to give a special thanks to Dr. Mihai Giurcanu for assisting in statistical analysis. The project was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant DEB 0841596. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which helped us significantly improve the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Wetland Biogeochemistry Laboratory, University of Florida, 2181 McCarty Hall A, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Debjani Sihi, Patrick W. Inglett & Kanika Sharma Inglett

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  1. Debjani Sihi
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  2. Patrick W. Inglett
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  3. Kanika Sharma Inglett
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Correspondence to Patrick W. Inglett.

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Sihi, D., Inglett, P.W. & Inglett, K.S. Carbon quality and nutrient status drive the temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition in subtropical peat soils. Biogeochemistry 131, 103–119 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0267-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-016-0267-8

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