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Direct and indirect effects of shifting rainfall on soil microbial respiration and enzyme activity in a semi-arid system

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Abstract

Background and aims

Higher interannual precipitation variability is predicted for Southern California’s shrub-dominated systems, promoting soil moisture variation and changing community composition. We asked if soil microbial responses to rainfall regime will depend on litter inputs; showing direct effects of altered precipitation through soil moisture and indirect effects resulting from shifting litter inputs.

Methods

Soils were collected from a 2-year field rainfall manipulation experiment. Under lab conditions soils were subjected to high or low moisture pulses with litter amendments from native and exotic species in all combinations.

Results

Soil respiration was higher with larger water pulses, but rose over time in low pulse treatments (direct response). Litter additions from exotic species promoted greater respiration, and results were stronger under higher soil moisture (indirect response). Extracellular enzyme activities generally were higher with exotic litter and under high moisture pulses. Those involved in N-cycling had much larger increases activity for the exotic litter addition - high moisture pulse scenarios compared to other treatments.

Conclusions

Our results indicate the potential for microbial acclimation to drought conditions over short timescales and that below-ground processes are sensitive to direct and indirect effects of shifting rainfall regimes, especially where invasion is promoted by future climate change.

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Abbreviations

NAG:

β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase

BGLUC:

β-Glucosidase

CBH:

Cellobiohydrolase

EEA:

Extracellular enzyme activity

LAP:

L-leucine aminopeptidase

MBM:

Microbial biomass

PHOS:

Phosphatase

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Acknowledgments

We thank Rachel Abbott, Angie Ashbacher, and Christopher Kopp for maintaining the field experiment along with Rochelle Aran and Magali Porrachia for their laboratory assistance. This work was performed at the University of California Natural Reserve System and supported by a Mildred E. Mathias Graduate Student Research Grant from the University of California Natural Reserve System. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. (DGE-1144086) and also a National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology grant (DEB 1154082). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biological Sciences, Ecology, Behavior & Evolution Section, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. #0116, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0116, USA

    Ellen H. Esch & Elsa E. Cleland

  2. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 92182-4614, USA

    David Lipson

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  1. Ellen H. Esch
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  2. David Lipson
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  3. Elsa E. Cleland
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Correspondence to Ellen H. Esch.

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Responsible Editor: Sven Marhan.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 3 Summary of mean species responses to microbial measurements. Values are percent increases or decreases observed for each species as compared to the no litter addition control treatment. Microbial responses measured include soil respiration (Respiration), microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen (MBM C and MBM N), and activity of extracellular enzymes (β-glucosidase (BGLUC), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), L-leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and phosphatase (PHOS))
Full size table

Appendix 2

Table 4 Summary of F and p-values for the linear model for effects of laboratory pulse size (d.f. = 1), litter origin (d.f. = 2), and the interaction (d.f. = 2) on biomass specific activity of each extracellular enzyme (β-glucosidase (BGLUC), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), L-leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and phosphatase (PHOS)). Biomass specific activity is for both microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass nitrogen
Full size table

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Esch, E.H., Lipson, D. & Cleland, E.E. Direct and indirect effects of shifting rainfall on soil microbial respiration and enzyme activity in a semi-arid system. Plant Soil 411, 333–346 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3027-6

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