Skip to main content

Priming effect in semi-arid soils of northern Ethiopia under different land use types

Biogeochemistry volume 158, pages 383–403 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Input of organic carbon (C) to the soil stimulates soil microbial activity leading to changes in turnover of soil organic matter, a phenomenon referred to as priming effect (PE). However, contribution of various management forms in tropical drylands, the role of land use conversion and the soil depth at which such management induces altered PEs remain largely unclear. In this study, we quantified respiration and PE in semi-arid soils of northern Ethiopia. Soils from three depths (0–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm) in forest, croplands, exclosure and grazing land use types were sampled. The soil samples were incubated for 23 days and PE and respiration quantified after addition of 14C labeled glucose corresponding to 50% of initial microbial biomass carbon (MBC). Generally, CO2 respired was 30–63% lower in sub than in topsoil with most expressed depth gradients in croplands. The weak negative PEs in subsoil is an indication of highly stabilized C. Contrary, glucose addition induced stronger positive PEs in topsoils collected from forest, exclosure and grazing land. The temporal dynamics of PEs involved a strong positive peak for the first five days after glucose addition and a second smaller peak 10 days after glucose addition in natural ecosystem, corresponding to apparent and real PE, respectively. Lack of positive correlation between PEs and C/N ratio ruled out the N-mining hypothesis, but a positive correlation between PE and MBC suggests co-metabolism as possible mechanism behind the real PE. Higher priming in natural ecosystem compared to cropland is an indication that conversion of natural ecosystem to continuous cropping system leads to depletion of the “primable” C pool in dryland soils. Additionally, this land use conversion negatively affects biogeochemical C cycling by an altered response of soil microbes to C input.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

References

  • Alguacil MM, Lumini E, Roldan A (2008) The impact of tillage practices on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity in subtropical crops. Ecol Appl 18:527–536

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoyama M, Angers DA, N’Dayegamiye A, Bissonnette N (2000) Metabolism of 13C-labeled glucose in aggregates from soils with manure application. Soil Biol Biochem 32:295–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Apostel C, Dippold M, Kuzyakov Y (2015) Biochemistry of hexose and pentose transformations in soil analyzed by position-specific labeling and 13C-PLFA. Soil Biol Biochem 80:199–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Assefa D, Rewald B, Sanden H, Rosinger C, Abiyu A, Yitaferu B, Godbold DL (2017) Deforestation and land use strongly effect soil organic carbon and nitrogen stock in Northwest Ethiopia. CATENA 153:89–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Banfield CC, Pausch J, Kuzyakov Y, Dippold MA (2018) Microbial processing of plant residues in the subsoil—the role of biopores. Soil Biol Biochem 125:309–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastida F, García C, Fierer N, Eldridge DJ, Bowker MA, Abades S, Alfaro FD, Berhe AA, Cutler NA, Gallardo A, García-Velázquez L, Hart SC, Hayes PE, Hernández T, Hseu Z, Jehmlich N, Kirchmair M, Lambers H, Neuhauser S, Peña-Ramírez VM, Pérez CA, Reed SC, Santos F, Siebe C, Sullivan BW, Trivedi P, Vera A, Williams MA, Moreno JL, Delgado-Baquerizo M (2019) Global ecological predictors of the soil priming effect. Nat Commun 10:3481

    Google Scholar 

  • Berihu T, Girmay G, Sebhatleab M, Berhane E, Zenebe A, Sigua GC (2017) Soil carbon and nitrogen losses following deforestation in Ethiopia. Agron Sustain Dev 37:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernal B, Megonigal JP, Mozdzer TJ (2017) An invasive wetland grass primes deep soil carbon pools. Glob Change Biol 23(5):2104–2116

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya E, Kuzyakov Y (2008) Mechanisms of real and apparent priming effects and their dependence on soil microbial biomass and community structure: critical review. Biol Fertil Soils 45:115–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya EV, Blagodatsky SA, Anderson TH, Kuzyakov Y (2007) Priming effects in Chernozem induced by glucose and N in relation to microbial growth strategies. Appl Soil Ecol 37:95–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya E, Yuyukin T, Blagodatsky S, Kuzyakov Y (2011a) Turnover of soil organic matter and microbial biomass under C3–C4 vegetation change: consideration of 13C fractionation and preferential substrate utilization. Soil Biol Biochem 43:159–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatskaya E, Yuyukina T, Blagodatsky S, Kuzyakov Y (2011b) Three sources partitioning of microbial biomass and CO2 efflux from soil to evaluate mechanisms of priming effects. Soil Biol Biochem 43:778–786

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagodatsky S, Blagodatskaya E, Yuyukina T, Kuzyakov Y (2010) Model of apparent and real priming effects: linking microbial activity with soil organic matter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1275–1283

    Google Scholar 

  • Bol R, Moering J, Kuzyakov Y, Amelung W (2003) Quantification of priming and CO2 respiration sources following slurry-C incorporation into two grassland soils with different C content. Rapid Commun Mass Spectr 17:2585–2590

    Google Scholar 

  • Borie F, Rubio R, Rouanet JL, Morales A, Borie G, Rojas C (2006) Effects of tillage systems on soil characteristics, glomalin and mycorrhizal propagules in a Chilean Ultisol. Soil Tillage Res 88:253–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford MA (2017) Soil carbon: a leaky sink. Nat Clim Chang 7:475–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen G, Yang Y, Xie J, Guo J, Gao R, Qian W (2005) Conversion of a natural broad-leafed evergreen forest into pure plantation forests in a subtropical area: effects on carbon storage. Ann Forest Sci 62:659–668

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen G, Yang Z, Gao R, Xie J, Guo J, Huang Z, Yang Y (2013) Carbon storage in a chronosequence of Chinese fir plantations in southern China. Forest Ecol Manage 300:68–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Lonardo DP, de Boer W, Zweers H, van der Wal A (2019) Effect of the amount of organic trigger compounds, nitrogen and soil microbial biomass on the magnitude of priming of soil organic matter. PLoS ONE 14:5

    Google Scholar 

  • De Nobili M, Contin M, Mondini C, Brookes PC (2001) Soil microbial biomass is triggered into activity by trace amounts of substrate. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1163–1170

    Google Scholar 

  • Dignac MF, Derrien D, Barré P, Barot S, Cécillon L, Chenu C, Chevallier T, Freschet GT, Garnier P, Guenet B, Hedde M, Klumpp K, Lashermes G, Maron PA, Nunan N, Roumet C, Basile-Doelsch I (2017) Increasing soil carbon storage: mechanisms, effects of agricultural practices and proxies. A review. Agron Sustain Dev 37:14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-017-0421-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimassi B, Mary B, Fontaine S, Perveen N, Revaillot S, Cohan JP (2014) Effect of nutrients availability and long-term tillage on priming effect and soil C mineralization. Soil Biol Biochem 78:332–339

    Google Scholar 

  • Don A, Schumacher J, Freibauer A (2011) Impact of tropical land-use change on soil organic carbon stocks—a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 17:1658–1670

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer H, Meyer A, Fischer K, Kuzyakov Y (2007) Carbohydrate and amino acid composition of dissolved organic matter leached from soil. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2926–2935

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine S, Barot S, Barre P, Bdioui N, Mary B, Rumpel C (2007) Stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers controlled by fresh carbon supply. Nature 450:277–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine S, Mariotti A, Abbadie L (2003) The priming effect of organic matter: a question of microbial competition? Soil Biol Biochem 35:837–843

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine S, Bardoux G, Benest D, Verdier B, Mariotti A (2004) Mechanisms of the priming effect in a Savannah soil amended with cellulose. Soil Sci Soc Am J 68:125–131

    Google Scholar 

  • Fontaine S, Henault C, Aamor A, Bdioui N, Bloor JMG, Maire V, Mary B, Revaillot S, Maron PA (2011) Fungi mediate long-term sequestration of carbon and nitrogen in soil through their priming effect. Soil Biol Biochem 43:86–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebresamuel G, Singh BR, Mitiku H, Borresen T, Lal R (2008) Carbon stocks in Ethiopian soils in relation to land use and soil management. Land Degrad Dev 19(4):351–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebresamuel G, Molla B, Teka K, Negash E, Haile M, Okolo CC (2020) Changes in soil organic carbon stock and nutrient status after conversion of pasture land to cultivated land in semi-arid areas of northern Ethiopia. Arch Agron Soil Sci. https://doi.org/10.1080/03650340.2020.1823372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebresamuel G, Opazo-Salazar D, Corral-Núnez G, van Beek C, Elias E, Okolo CC (2021) Nutrient balance of farming systems in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00362-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gessesse TA, Khamzina A, Gebresamuel G, Amelung W (2020) Terrestrial carbon stocks following 15 years of integrated watershed management intervention in semi-arid Ethiopia. CATENA 190:104543

    Google Scholar 

  • Guo LB, Gifford RM (2002) Soil carbon stocks and land use change: a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol 8:345–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamer U, Marschner P (2005) Priming effects in different soil types induced by fructose, alanine, oxalic acid and catechol addition. Soil Biol Biochem 37:445–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Heitkötter J, Stefanie H, Marschner B (2017) Relevance of substrate quality and nutrients for microbial C-turnover in top-and subsoil of a dystric cambisol. Geoderma 302:89–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoang DTT, Bauke SL, Kuzyakov Y, Pausch J (2017) Rolling in the deep: Priming effects in earthworm biopores in topsoil and subsoil. Soil Biol Biochem 114:59–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.06.021

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoang DTT, Maranguit D, Kuzyakov Y, Razavi BS (2020) Accelerated microbial activity, turnover and efficiency in the drilosphere is depth dependent. Soil Biol Biochem 147:107852

    Google Scholar 

  • Horvath RS (1972) Microbial co-metabolism and the degradation of organic compounds in nature. Bacteriol Rev 36:146–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Houghton RA (2003a) Revised estimates of the annual net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use and land management 1850–2000. Tellus B 55:378–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Houghton RA (2003b) Why are estimates of the terrestrial carbon balance so different? Glob Change Biol 9:500–509

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsiao C, Sassenrath GF, Zeglin LZ, Hettiarachchi GM, Rice CW (2018) Vertical changes of soil microbial properties in claypan soils. Soil Biol Biochem 121:154–164

    Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate change: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment. In: Solomon S, Quin D, Manning M (eds) Report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia X, Zhou X, Luo Y, Xue X (2014) Effects of substrate addition on soil respiratory carbon release under long-term warming and clipping in a tallgrass Prairie. PLoS ONE 9(12):e114203. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jobbágy EG, Jackson RB (2000) The vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and its relation to climate and vegetation. Ecol Appl 10:423–436

    Google Scholar 

  • Joergensen RG (1996) The fumigation-extraction method to estimate soil microbial biomass: calibration of the kEC value. Soil Biol Biochem 28:25–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Joergensen RG, Mueller T (1996) The fumigation-extraction method to estimate soil microbial biomass: calibration of the kEN value. Soil Biol Biochem 28:33–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer C, Gleixner G (2008) Soil organic matter in soil depth profiles: distinct carbon preferences of microbial groups during carbon transformation. Soil Biol Biochem 40:425–433

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuzyakov Y (2002) Review: factors affecting rhizosphere-priming effects. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 165:382–396

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuzyakov Y (2010) Priming effects: Interactions between living and dead organic matter. Soil Biol Biochem 42:1363–1371

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuzyakov Y (2011) How to link soil C pools with CO2 fluxes? Biogeosciences 8:1523–1537

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuzyakov Y, Friedel JK, Stah K (2000) Review of mechanisms and quantification of priming effects. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1485–1498

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal R, Lorenz K, Huttle RF, Schneider BU, Von BJ (2012) Terrestrial biosphere as a source and sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In: Lal R et al (eds) Recarbonization of the biosphere: ecosystems and the global cycle. Springer, Dordrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehmann J, Kleber M (2015) The contentious nature of soil organic matter. Nature 528:60–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang C, Schimel JP, Jastrow JD (2017) The importance of anabolism in microbial control over soil carbon storage. Nat Microbiol 2:17105. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luna-Guido ML, Vega-Estrada J, Ponce-Mendoza A, Hernandez-Hernandez H, Montes-Horcasitas MC (2003) Mineralization of 14C-labelled maize in alkaline saline soils. Plant Soil 250:29–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Majumder B, Kuzyakov Y (2010) Effect of fertilization on decomposition of 14C labelled plant residues and their incorporation into soil aggregates. Soil Tillage Res 109:94–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Makarov MI, Malysheva TI, Menyailo OV, Soudzilovskaia NA, van Logtestijn RSP, Cornelissen JHC (2015) Effect of K2SO4 concentration on extractability and isotope signature (δ13C and δ15N) of soil C and N fractions. Eur J Soil Sci 66(3):417–426

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason-Jones K, Kuzyakov Y (2017) “Non-metabolizable” glucose analogue shines new light on priming mechanisms: Triggering of microbial metabolism. Soil Biol Biochem 107:68–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason-Jones K, Schmückera N, Kuzyakov Y (2018) Contrasting effects of organic and mineral nitrogen challenge the N-Mining Hypothesis for soil organic matter priming. Soil Biol Biochem 124:38–46

    Google Scholar 

  • McLean EO (1982) Soil pH and lime requirement. In: Page AL, Miller RH, Keeney DR (eds) Methods of soil analysis, Part 2: chemical and microbiological properties. Agronomy monograph No. 9, 2nd edn. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp 199–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Mekuria W, Wondie M, Amare T, Wubet A, Feyisa T, Yitaferu B (2018) Restoration of degraded landscapes for ecosystem services in North-Western Ethiopia. Heliyon 4:e00764

    Google Scholar 

  • Mganga KZ, Kuzyakov Y (2018) Land use and fertilisation affect priming in tropical Andosols. Eur J Soil Biol 87:9–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Mganga KZ, Razavi BS, Kuzyakov Y (2016) Land use affects soil biochemical properties in Mt. Kilimanjaro region. CATENA 141:22–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondejar ME, Avtar R, Diaz HLB, Dubey R, Esteban J, Gómez-Morales A, Hallam B, Mbungu NT, Okolo CC, Prasad KA, She Q, Garcia-Segura S (2021) Digitalization to achieve sustainable development goals: steps towards a smart green planet. Sci Total Environ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nottingham AT, Griffiths H, Chamberlain PM, Stott AW, Tanner EVJ (2009) Soil priming by sugar and leaf-litter substrates: a link to microbial groups. Appl Soil Ecol 42:183–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Nwite JN, Okolo CC (2017) Organic carbon dynamics and changes in some physical properties of soil and their effect on grain yield of maize under conservative tillage practices in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Afr J Agric Res 12(26):2215–2222

    Google Scholar 

  • Nwite JN, Orji JE, Okolo CC (2018) Effect of different land use systems on soil carbon storage and structural indices in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Indian J Ecol 45(3):522–527

    Google Scholar 

  • Nyssen J, Frankl A, Zenebe A, Deckers J, Poesen J (2015) Land management in the Northern Ethiopian highlands: local and global perspectives; past, present and future. Land Degrad Dev. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2336

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okebalama CB, Igwe CA, Okolo CC (2017) Soil organic carbon levels in soils of contrasting land uses in southeastern Nigeria. Trop Subtrop Agroecosyst 20:493–504

    Google Scholar 

  • Okolo CC, Gebresamuel G, Retta AN, Zenebe A, Haile M (2019) Advances in quantifying soil organic carbon under different land uses in Ethiopia: a review and synthesis. Bull Natl Res Cent 43:99

    Google Scholar 

  • Okolo CC, Dippold MA, Gebresamuel G, Zenebe A, Haile M, Bore E (2020a) Assessing the sustainability of land use management of Northern Ethiopian drylands by various indicators for soil health. Ecol Indic 112:106092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106092

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okolo CC, Gebresamuel G, Zenebe A, Haile M, Eze PN (2020b) Accumulation of organic carbon in various soil aggregate sizes under different land use systems in a semi-arid environment. Agric Ecosyst Environ 297:106924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panikov NS (1995) Microbial growth kinetics. Chapman & Hall, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Partey ST, Preziosi RF, Robson GD (2014) Improving maize residue use in soil fertility restoration by mixing with residues of low C-to-N ratio: effects on C and N mineralization and soil microbial biomass. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 14(3):518–531

    Google Scholar 

  • Paterson E (2009) Comments on the regulatory gate hypothesis and implications for C-cycling in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1352–1354

    Google Scholar 

  • Pausch J, Zhu B, Kuzyakov Y, Cheng W (2013) Plant inter-species effects on rhizosphere priming of soil organic matter decomposition. Soil Biol Biochem 57:91–99

    Google Scholar 

  • Perveen N, Barot S, Alvarez G, Klumpp K, Martin R, Rapaport A, Herfurth D, Louault F, Fontaine S (2014) Priming effect and microbial diversity in ecosystem functioning and response to global change: a modeling approach using the SYMPHONY model. Glob Change Biol 20:1174–1190

    Google Scholar 

  • Perveen N, Barot S, Maire V, Cotrufo MF, Shahzad T, Blagodatskaya E, Stewart CE, Ding W, Siddiq MR, Dimassi B, Mary B, Fontaine S (2019) Universality of priming effect: an analysis using thirty five soils with contrasted properties sampled from five continents. Soil Biol Biochem 134:162–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Pravalie R (2016) Drylands extent and environmental issues. A global approach. Earth Sci Rev 161:259–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumpel C, Kögel-Knabner I (2011) Deep soil organic matter—a key but poorly understood component of terrestrial C cycle. Plant Soil 338:143–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumpel C, Kögel-Knabner I, Bruhn F (2002) Vertical distribution, age, and chemical composition of organic carbon in two forest soils of different pedogenesis. Org Geochem 33(10):1131–1142

    Google Scholar 

  • Rousk J, Hill PW, Jones DL (2015) Priming of the decomposition of ageing soil organic matter: concentration dependence and microbial control. Funct Ecol 29:285–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Salome C, Nunan N, Pouteau V, Lerchw TZ, Chenu C (2010) Carbon dynamics in topsoil and in subsoil may be controlled by different regulatory mechanisms. Glob Change Biol 16:416–426

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanaullah M, Chabbi A, Leifeld J, Bardoux G, Billou D, Rumpel C (2011) Decomposition and stabilization of root litter in top- and subsoil horizons: what is the difference? Plant Soil 338:127–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneckenberger K, Demin D, Stahr K, Kuzyakov Y (2008) Microbial utilization and mineralization of C-14 glucose added in six orders of concentration to soil. Soil Biol Biochem 40:1981–1988

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahbaz M, Kumar A, Kuzyakov Y, Börjesson G, Blagodatskay E (2018) Priming effects induced by glucose and decaying plant residues on SOM decomposition: a three-source 13C/14C partitioning study. Soil Biol Biochem 121:138–146

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahzad T, Rashid MI, Maire V, Barot S, Perveen N, Alvarez G, Mougin C, Fontaine S (2018) Root penetration in deep soil layers stimulates mineralization of millennia-old organic carbon. Soil Biol Biochem 124:150–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Shahzad T, Anwar F, Hussain S, Mahmood F, Arif MS, Sahar A, Nawaz MF, Perveen N, Sanaullah S, Rehman K, Rahid MI (2019) Carbon dynamics in surface and deep soil in response to increasing litter addition rates in an agro-ecosystem. Geoderma 333:1–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Siles JA, Díaz-López M, Vera A, Eisenhauer N, Guerra CA, Smith LC, Buscot F, Reitz T, Breitkreuz C, van den Hoogen J, Crowther TW, Orgiazzi A, Kuzyakov Y, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Bastida F (2022) Priming effects in soils across Europe. Glob Change Biol. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tesfaye Y, Bekele M, Kebede H, Tefera F, Kassa H (2015) Enhancing the role of forestry in building climate resilient green economy in Ethiopia: strategy for scaling up effective forest management practices in oromia national regional state with emphasis on participatory forest management. Center for International Forestry Research Ethiopia Office, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass-C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Werf GR, Morton DC, DeFries RS, Olivier JG, Kasibhatla PS, Jackson RB, Collatz GJ, Randerson JT (2009) CO2 emissions from forest loss. Nat Geosci 2:737–738

    Google Scholar 

  • Wie F, Wang S, Brandt M, Fu B, Meadows ME, Lixin W, Lanhui W, Tong X, Fensholt R (2021) Responses and feedbacks of African dryland ecosystems to environmental changes. Curr Opin Environ Sustain 48:29–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Wordell-Dietrich P, Don A, Helfrich M (2017) Controlling factors for the stability of subsoil carbon in a dystric cambisol. Geoderma 304:40–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Yakob G, Smith JU, Nayak DR, Hallett PD, Phimister E, Mekuria W (2022) Changes in soil properties following the establishment of exclosures in Ethiopia: a meta-analysis. Front Ecol Evol 10:823026

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang W, Wang X, Wang S (2013) Addition of external organic carbon and native soil organic carbon decomposition: a meta-analysis. PLoS ONE 8:2

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the financial support of Chukwuebuka Christopher Okolo (CCO) under the Green Talents—International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development Program. The scholarship support of Transdisciplinary Training for Resource Efficiency and Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (TRECC Africa II) to CCO is highly appreciated. Special thanks to the African-German Network of Excellence in Science (AGNES), BMBF and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) for the 2021 AGNES Grant for Junior Researchers granted to CCO. The final draft of the manuscript was completed when CCO was at the University of Vienna Austria, Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, under the OeAD and BMBWF scholarship. We thank the Robert Bosch Foundation for funding the Robert-Bosch Junior Professor Michaela Dippold, who initiated the collaboration with Ethiopian institutes based on this grant, initiating this project. The authors would also like to appreciate Karin Schmidt and Callum Banfield in a very special way for their laboratory assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Resources Management and Environmental Protection, Mekelle University, P. O. Box 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Chukwuebuka C. Okolo, Girmay Gebresamuel, Amanuel Zenebe & Mitiku Haile

  2. Institute of Climate and Society, Mekelle University, P. O. Box 231, Mekelle, Ethiopia

    Chukwuebuka C. Okolo & Amanuel Zenebe

  3. Biogeochemistry of Agroecosystems, Department of Crop Sciences, Georg-August University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Chukwuebuka C. Okolo, Ezekiel Bore & Michaela A. Dippold

  4. Department of Agronomy and Ecological Management, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, PMB 01660, Nigeria

    Chukwuebuka C. Okolo

  5. Department of Soil Science and Environmental Management, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, PMB 053, Nigeria

    James N. Nwite

  6. Environmnetal Soil Science, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O Box 56FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Ezekiel Bore

  7. Bio-Geosphere Interactions, University of Tuebingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Michaela A. Dippold

  8. Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    Chukwuebuka C. Okolo

Authors
  1. Chukwuebuka C. Okolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ezekiel Bore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Girmay Gebresamuel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Amanuel Zenebe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mitiku Haile
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. James N. Nwite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Michaela A. Dippold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chukwuebuka C. Okolo.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Responsible Editor: Samantha R. Weintraub-Leff.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Okolo, C.C., Bore, E., Gebresamuel, G. et al. Priming effect in semi-arid soils of northern Ethiopia under different land use types. Biogeochemistry 158, 383–403 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00905-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-022-00905-z

Keywords

  • Ethiopian drylands
  • Glucose
  • Land use
  • Mineralization
  • Priming effect
  • Soil organic matter