Temperature sensitivity of aerobic and anaerobic organic carbon mineralization varies with climate and soil depth in riparian zones

Abstract

The temperature sensitivity (Q10) of soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization plays a vital role in predicting the global carbon cycle under climate change. Q10 has been extensively examined in various terrestrial ecosystems; however, in riparian zones where soil oxygen levels are highly dynamic owing to frequent flooding, Q10 should change with oxygen conditions and show spatial variation, but the mechanisms are still obscure. In this study, we collected topsoil and subsoil samples from riparian zones along a latitudinal gradient and conducted aerobic and anaerobic incubation experiments to determine the latitudinal and vertical patterns of Q10. The results showed that Q10 under anoxic conditions (average of 1.7) significantly exceeded that under oxic conditions (average of 1.4). In general, aerobic SOC mineralization is more sensitive to warming at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes, whereas the pattern is reversed under anoxic conditions. The Q10 in the topsoil was significantly higher than that in the subsoil only under oxic conditions. Metagenomics showed that the abundance of genes involved in the degradation of lignin, carbohydrate esters, and starch in the topsoil increased with latitude, whereas genes for acetate degradation were more abundant in warmer zones, regardless of soil depth. Q10 under oxic conditions was mainly influenced by soil physicochemical properties (e.g., pH and texture), whereas Q10 under anoxic conditions was jointly controlled by climate, soil texture, and acetate degradation genes. Together, anaerobic carbon (C) mineralization in riparian zones is more sensitive to temperature than aerobic metabolism, but the patterns of Q10 under oxic conditions were dependent on both latitude and depth. Our findings highlight that the discrepancies in aerobic and anaerobic C metabolism, and the C cycling process at different soil depths, might play a non-negligible role in affecting the assessment of global C emissions under climate change.