Author response: Lowland plant arrival in alpine ecosystems facilitates a decrease in soil carbon content under experimental climate warming
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Le résumé fourni par la source
In a terrestrial ecosystem, the carbon cycle primarily represents the balance between plants consuming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and soil microbes releasing carbon stored in the soil into the atmosphere (mostly as carbon dioxide). Given that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere, the balance of carbon inputs and outputs from an ecosystem can have important consequences for climate change. Rising temperatures caused by climate warming have led plants from lowland ecosystems to migrate uphill and start growing in alpine ecosystems, where temperatures are lower and most carbon is stored in the soil. Soil microbes use carbon stored in the soil and exuded from plants to grow, and they release this carbon – in the form of carbon dioxide – into the atmosphere through respiration. Walker et al. wanted to know how the arrival of lowland plants in alpine ecosystems under climate warming would affect carbon stores in the soil. To answer this question, Walker et al. simulated warmer temperatures by moving turfs (plants and soil) from alpine ecosystems to a warmer downhill site and planting lowland plants into the turfs. They compared the concentration of soil carbon in these turfs to that of soil in alpine turfs that had not been moved downhill and had no lowland plants. Their results showed that the warmed turfs containing lowland plants had a lower concentration of soil carbon. This suggests that climate warming will lead to more soil carbon being released into the atmosphere if lowland plants also migrate into alpine ecosystems. Walker et al. also wanted to know the mechanism through which lowland plants were decreasing soil carbon concentration under warming. They find that lowland plants probably release more small molecules into the soil than alpine plants. Soil microbes use the carbon and nutrients in these molecules to break down more complex molecules in the soil, thereby releasing nutrients and carbon that can then be used in respiration. This finding suggests that soil microbes breakdown and respire native soil carbon faster in the presence of lowland plants, releasing more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reducing carbon stores in the soil. Walker et al.’s results reveal a new mechanism through which uphill migration of lowland plants could increase the effects of climate change, in a feedback loop. Further research as to whether this mechanism occurs in different regions and ecosystems could help to quantify the magnitude of this feedback and allow scientists to make more accurate predictions about climate change.
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Le contrôle bibliographique ouvert
DOI retrouvé dans Crossref DOI retrouvé ; titre concordant.
- Titre Crossref
- Author response: Lowland plant arrival in alpine ecosystems facilitates a decrease in soil carbon content under experimental climate warming
- Date Crossref
- 06/05/2022
- Éditeur
- eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
- Type
- peer-review
Ce recoupement confirme des métadonnées liées au DOI. Il ne confirme ni la méthode ni les conclusions de l’étude, et il ne compte pas comme une seconde source scientifique indépendante.
Où se fait cette recherche
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ETH Zurich pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Institute of Integrative Biology pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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Swiss Federal Institute for Forest pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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Impact pays non établi dans la noticeOrganisation à but non lucratif
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École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Umeå University pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Lausanne pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Princeton University Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique pays non établi dans la noticeOrganisme public
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Laboratoire d'Écologie Alpine pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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Université Grenoble Alpes pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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University of Vienna Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
ETH Zurich, Institute of Integrative Biology et Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, avec 9 autres affiliations.
Une affiliation ne permet pas de déduire la nationalité d’un auteur.