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Translocation and turnover of rhizodeposit carbon within soil microbial communities of an extensive grassland ecosystem

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Abstract

Background and Aims

A substantial amount of photosynthesized plant-C is allocated belowground in grassland ecosystems where it influences the structure and function of the soil microbial community with potential implications for C cycling and storage. We applied stable isotope probing of microbial PLFAs and repeated soil sampling in a grassland over a period of 1 year to assess the role of microbial communities in the cycling of rhizodeposit-C.

Methods

Pulse-labeling with 13CO2 was performed in a grassland site near Gent (Belgium). Soil samples were taken 24 h, 1 week, 1 month, 4 months, 9 months and 1 year following labeling and analyzed for 13C in soil, roots and microbial PLFAs.

Results

C enrichment of PLFAs occurred rapidly (within 24 h) but temporally varied across microbial groups. PLFAs indicative for fungi and gram-negative bacteria showed a faster 13C uptake compared to gram-positive bacteria and actinomycetes. However, the relative 13C concentrations of the latter communities increased after 1 week, while those of fungi decreased and those of gram-negative bacteria remained constant. PLFA 13C mean residence times were much shorter for fungi compared to bacteria and actinomycetes.

Conclusions

Our results indicate temporally varying rhizodeposit-C uptake by different microbial groups, and faster turnover rates of mycorrhizal versus saprotrophic fungi and fungi versus bacteria. Fungi appeared to play a major role in the initial processing and possible rapid channeling of rhizodeposit-C into the soil microbial community. Actinomycetes and gram-positive bacteria appeared to have a delayed utilization of rhizodeposit-C or to prefer other C sources upon rhizodeposition.

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Abbreviations

PLFA:

Phospholipid fatty acid

FAME:

Fatty acid methyl ester

SIP:

Stable isotope probing

GC-c-IRMS:

Gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry

MRT:

Mean residence time

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dries Roobroeck, Davy Loete, Katja Van Nieuland and Jan Vermeulen for assistance with pulse-labeling, sample collection and laboratory analyses. This study was funded by the special research fund (BOF) of Ghent University. Dries Huygens is a postdoctoral fellow of the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders (FWO).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isotope Bioscience Laboratory—ISOFYS, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, Ghent, Belgium

    Wajira K. Balasooriya, Dries Huygens & Pascal Boeckx

  2. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1499, USA

    Karolien Denef

  3. Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile

    Dries Huygens

Authors
  1. Wajira K. Balasooriya
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  2. Karolien Denef
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  3. Dries Huygens
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  4. Pascal Boeckx
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Correspondence to Karolien Denef.

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Responsible Editor: Gerlinde De Deyn.

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Balasooriya, W.K., Denef, K., Huygens, D. et al. Translocation and turnover of rhizodeposit carbon within soil microbial communities of an extensive grassland ecosystem. Plant Soil 376, 61–73 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1343-z

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