Precipitation increment reinforced warming-induced increases in soil mineral-associated and particulate organic matter under agricultural ecosystem

Abstract

Exploring the dynamics of soil carbon (C) response to multi-faceted global climate change plays a vital role in facilitating the estimation of carbon-climate feedback. However, the direction and extent of the warming effect on soil carbon pool within different soil fractions considered simultaneously in increased precipitation and decreased precipitation system are not well understood. Here we established a 2-year field manipulation experiment based on open top chamber (OTC) to assess the effects of warming and altering precipitation regimes (40 % reduction, normal, and 40 % increment) on soil physical fractions formation and distribution. Our results showed that in the precipitation increment, warming significantly increased particulate organic carbon (POC) and mineral-associated carbon (MAOC) by an average of 48.10 % and 21.28 % in the 0–5 cm soil layer. And the formation mechanism of POC and MAOC were different. POC was directly affected by the coupling between plant input and C-degradation fungal functional genes adjusted by dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total nitrogen (TN); and MAOC was affected by increasing labile carbon inputs (such as DOC) of maize residue and belowground biomass. However, precipitation reduction neutralized the beneficial effects of warming, mainly through reducing plant inputs and residue decomposition, thereby suppressing C-degradation fungal functional genes and labile carbon supply. Overall, our results provide new insights into the potential mechanisms through which interaction of warming and altered precipitation controls soil C dynamics.