Preferential degradation of leaf- vs. root-derived organic carbon in earthworm-affected soil

Gerrit Angst; Šárka Angst; Jan Frouz; Francien Peterse; Klaas G.J. Nierop

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114391

Preferential degradation of leaf- vs. root-derived organic carbon in earthworm-affected soil

Gerrit Angst^*, Šárka Angst, Jan Frouz, Francien Peterse, Klaas G.J. Nierop

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Earthworms are integral parts of many ecosystems and may play a decisive role in determining whether soils function as carbon (C) sink or source. However, information on how earthworms affect the composition and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is scarce. Particularly their effect on organic matter deriving from leaves and roots with distinct composition and, thus, susceptibility to decomposition and stabilization remains unclear. Here, we combine cutin- and suberin-derived lipids as specific markers for leaf- and root-derived SOM with their ¹³C composition and physical fractionations of soil. We show that earthworms overprint the protective role of organo-mineral associations and aggregates to favor the accumulation of root- relative to leaf-derived SOM. This gradual accumulation contributes to the often-observed dominance of root-derived organic matter in soil and emphasizes the need to consider molecular level effects of earthworms on SOM dynamics.

Original language	English
Article number	114391
Number of pages	3
Journal	Geoderma
Volume	372
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114391
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2020

Funding

This study was funded by the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (grant number MSM200961705 ), the Soil and Water Research Infrastructure funded by MEYS CZ (grant numbers LM2015075 and EF16_013/0001782 ) and the Czech Science Foundation (grant numbers 19-00533Y and 18-24138S ). We thank Travis Meador for discussing the 13 C data, Katja Heister for facilitating the Geolab infrastructure at Utrecht University, Vladimir Šustr, Kateřina Lapáčková, Carsten W. Mueller, Isabel Prater, and Tomáš Picek for help in the laboratory, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Keywords

13C
Aggregates
Cutin
Soil fractions
Stabilization
Suberin

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title = "Preferential degradation of leaf- vs. root-derived organic carbon in earthworm-affected soil",

abstract = "Earthworms are integral parts of many ecosystems and may play a decisive role in determining whether soils function as carbon (C) sink or source. However, information on how earthworms affect the composition and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is scarce. Particularly their effect on organic matter deriving from leaves and roots with distinct composition and, thus, susceptibility to decomposition and stabilization remains unclear. Here, we combine cutin- and suberin-derived lipids as specific markers for leaf- and root-derived SOM with their 13C composition and physical fractionations of soil. We show that earthworms overprint the protective role of organo-mineral associations and aggregates to favor the accumulation of root- relative to leaf-derived SOM. This gradual accumulation contributes to the often-observed dominance of root-derived organic matter in soil and emphasizes the need to consider molecular level effects of earthworms on SOM dynamics.",

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AU - Angst, Gerrit

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AU - Frouz, Jan

AU - Peterse, Francien

AU - Nierop, Klaas G.J.

PY - 2020/8/1

Y1 - 2020/8/1

N2 - Earthworms are integral parts of many ecosystems and may play a decisive role in determining whether soils function as carbon (C) sink or source. However, information on how earthworms affect the composition and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is scarce. Particularly their effect on organic matter deriving from leaves and roots with distinct composition and, thus, susceptibility to decomposition and stabilization remains unclear. Here, we combine cutin- and suberin-derived lipids as specific markers for leaf- and root-derived SOM with their 13C composition and physical fractionations of soil. We show that earthworms overprint the protective role of organo-mineral associations and aggregates to favor the accumulation of root- relative to leaf-derived SOM. This gradual accumulation contributes to the often-observed dominance of root-derived organic matter in soil and emphasizes the need to consider molecular level effects of earthworms on SOM dynamics.

AB - Earthworms are integral parts of many ecosystems and may play a decisive role in determining whether soils function as carbon (C) sink or source. However, information on how earthworms affect the composition and stability of soil organic matter (SOM) is scarce. Particularly their effect on organic matter deriving from leaves and roots with distinct composition and, thus, susceptibility to decomposition and stabilization remains unclear. Here, we combine cutin- and suberin-derived lipids as specific markers for leaf- and root-derived SOM with their 13C composition and physical fractionations of soil. We show that earthworms overprint the protective role of organo-mineral associations and aggregates to favor the accumulation of root- relative to leaf-derived SOM. This gradual accumulation contributes to the often-observed dominance of root-derived organic matter in soil and emphasizes the need to consider molecular level effects of earthworms on SOM dynamics.

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KW - Stabilization

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Preferential degradation of leaf- vs. root-derived organic carbon in earthworm-affected soil

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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