Abstract
Aims
This study aimed to explore the mechanisms of the priming effect (PE) induced by root exudates on soil carbon pools at different stages of decomposition.
Methods
The 13 C-labeled and unlabeled glucose, glycine and oxalic acid were added to soils of 15-year old-field (OF), 15-year bare-fallow (BF) and 23-year bare-fallow plus additional 815-day laboratory incubation (BF+), which represented relatively active (OF) and more resistant (BF and BF+) soil carbon pools. The 13 C stable isotope was used to determine the PE and net carbon balance, and cumulative CO2 emission, microbial biomass carbon and dissolved organic carbon were also reported.
Results
Relative to the control, soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition in OF, BF and BF+ was stimulated by 17.3%, 20.8% and 21.5% with glucose addition, by 12.0%, 36.9% and 52.6% with glycine addition, and by 20.8%, 58.4% and 62.8% with oxalic acid addition, respectively. Overall, oxalic acid resulted in higher cumulative PE and lower net carbon balance relative to glucose and glycine in all three soils. Moreover, the PE of BF and BF+ were larger than that of OF induced by glucose, glycine and oxalic acid.
Conclusions
Resistant soil carbon is more vulnerable to priming by root exudates compared to active soil carbon, and oxalic acid can induce a stronger PE than glucose and glycine, especially in more resistant soil carbon pools.
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Abbreviations
- OF:
-
old-field
- BF:
-
bare-fallow
- BF+:
-
bare-fallow+incubation
- C:
-
carbon
- SOC:
-
soil organic carbon
- SOM:
-
soil organic matter
- TC:
-
total carbon
- TOC:
-
total organic carbon
- N:
-
nitrogen
- WHC:
-
water-holding capacity
- PE:
-
priming effect
- MBC:
-
microbial biomass carbon
- DOC:
-
dissolved organic carbon
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31770529 and 31971528), the Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJZD-K202001203, KJZD-K202003501), the Chongqing Science and Technology Commission (cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0095). We thank Shuai Zhang, Xi Chen and Zhuolin Yu for laboratory assistance. We also sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions which greatly improved the manuscript.
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Zhou, S., Lin, J., Wang, P. et al. Resistant soil organic carbon is more vulnerable to priming by root exudate fractions than relatively active soil organic carbon. Plant Soil 488, 71–82 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05288-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-05288-y