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Increased cuticular carbon sequestration and lignin oxidation in response to soil warming

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 836–839 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Rising temperatures are predicted to accelerate the decomposition of labile soil organic compounds such as proteins and carbohydrates, whereas biochemically resistant compounds, such as lipids from leaf cuticles and roots and lignin from woody tissues, are expected to remain stable on decadal to centennial timescales1,2. However, the extent to which soil warming changes the molecular composition of soil organic matter is poorly understood3,4. Here we examine the impact of soil warming in a mixed temperate forest on the molecular make-up of soil organic matter. We show that the abundance of leaf-cuticle-derived compounds is increased following 14 months of soil warming; we confirm this with nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of soil organic matter extracts. In contrast, we find that the abundance of lignin-derived compounds is decreased after the same treatment, while soil fungi, the primary decomposers of lignin in soil5, increase in abundance. We conclude that future warming could alter the composition of soil organic matter at the molecular level, accelerating lignin degradation and increasing leaf-cuticle-derived carbon sequestration. With annual litterfall predicted to increase in the world’s major forests with a 3 ∘C warming6, we suggest that future warming may enhance the sequestration of cuticular carbon in soil.

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Figure 1: Relative abundance of major SOM components in the control and treatment plots.
Figure 2: Differences in lignin degradation parameters from both the control and treatment plots before and after soil warming.
Figure 3: 13C NMR projections from 2D 1H–13C spectra of humic extracts from the warmed and control soil.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (GR-520) supported this research. M.J.S also thanks the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for support through a University Faculty Award (UFA). X.F. acknowledges financial support from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) programme. D.D.W. thanks NSERC for support through a Discovery Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada

    Xiaojuan Feng, André J. Simpson & Myrna J. Simpson

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada

    Kevin P. Wilson & D. Dudley Williams

Authors
  1. Xiaojuan Feng
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  2. André J. Simpson
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Contributions

All authors commented on the manuscript and carried out research. K.P.W. and D.D.W. designed and carried out field experiments. X.F., M.J.S. and A.J.S. designed and carried out sample analysis, analysed the data and wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Myrna J. Simpson.

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Supplementary Information, Table S1

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Feng, X., Simpson, A., Wilson, K. et al. Increased cuticular carbon sequestration and lignin oxidation in response to soil warming. Nature Geosci 1, 836–839 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo361

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