Vegetation and microbes interact to preserve carbon in many wooded peatlands
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Peatlands have persisted as massive carbon
sinks over millennia, even during past periods of climate change. The commonly accepted
theory of abiotic controls (mainly anoxia and low temperature) over carbon decomposition
cannot fully explain how vast low-latitude shrub/tree dominated (wooded) peatlands
consistently accrete peat under warm and seasonally unsaturated conditions. Here we
show, by comparing the composition and ecological traits of microbes between <jats:italic>Sphagnum</jats:italic>-
and shrub-dominated peatlands, that slow-growing microbes decisively dominate the
studied shrub-dominated peatlands, concomitant with plant-induced increases in highly
recalcitrant carbon and phenolics. The slow-growing microbes metabolize organic matter
thirty times slower than the fast-growing microbes that dominate our <jats:italic>Sphagnum</jats:italic>-dominated
site. We suggest that the high-phenolic shrub/tree induced shifts in microbial composition
may compensate for positive effects of temperature and/or drought on metabolism over
time in peatlands. This biotic self-sustaining process that modulates abiotic controls
on carbon cycling may improve projections of long-term, climate-carbon feedbacks in
peatlands.</jats:p>
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24513Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1038/s43247-021-00136-4Publication Info
Wang, H; Tian, J; Chen, H; Ho, M; Vilgalys, R; Bu, ZJ; ... Richardson, CJ (2021). Vegetation and microbes interact to preserve carbon in many wooded peatlands. Communications Earth & Environment, 2(1). 10.1038/s43247-021-00136-4. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/24513.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Curtis J. Richardson
Research Professor of Resource Ecology in the Division of Environmental Science and
Policy
Curtis J. Richardson is Professor of Resource Ecology and founding Director of the
Duke University Wetland Center in the Nicholas School of the Environment. Dr. Richardson
earned his degrees from the State University of New York and the University of Tennessee.
His research interests in applied ecology focus on long-term ecosystem response to
large-scale perturbations such as climate change, toxic materials, trace metals, flooding,
or nutrient additions. He has specific interests in phosphor
Rytas J. Vilgalys
Professor of Biology
My scientific work includes traditional and modern research approaches to studying
all areas of mycology including systematics, evolution, medical mycology, plant pathology,
genetics/genomics, and ecology. I am best known for my involvement in the transition
of fungal systematics from a non-quantitative, largely morphologically based science
to the rigorous genome-based discipline that it is today. For the past 20 years,
my lab has been increasingly involved in the study of fungal
Hongjun Wang
Research Scientist, Senior
My research focuses on C,N,P biogeochemical cycles and the related ecological processes
in wetlands, how these key elements dynamically respond to climate change, and how
we can use the biogeochemical features to improve the ecological resilience and resistance
to climate change and human disturbance, thus mitigating environmental challenges.
I also expand my basic research in peatlands to degraded farms and put the resilient
mechanism in practice to improve sustainable food, water and agri
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