Variable use of plant- and soil-derived carbon by microorganisms in agricultural soils

Abstract

In this study we used compound specific 13C and 14C isotopic signatures to determine the degree to which recent plant material and older soil organic matter (SOM) served as carbon substrates for microorganisms in soils. We determined the degree to which plant-derived carbon was used as a substrate by comparison of the 13C content of microbial phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) from soils of two sites that had undergone a vegetation change from C3 to C4 plants in the past 20–30 years. The importance of much older SOM as a substrate was determined by comparison of the radiocarbon content of PLFA from soils of two sites that had different 14C concentrations of SOM. The 13C shift in PLFA from the two sites that had experienced different vegetation history indicated that 40–90% of the PLFA carbon had been fixed since the vegetation change took place. Thus PLFA were more enriched in 13C from the new C4 vegetation than it was observed for bulk SOM indicating recent plant material as preferentially used substrate for soil microorganisms. The largest 13C shift of PLFA was observed in the soil that had high 14C concentrations of bulk SOM. These results reinforce that organic carbon in this soil for the most part cycles rapidly. The degree to which SOM is incorporated into microbial PLFA was determined by the difference in 14C concentration of PLFA derived from two soils one with high 14C concentrations of bulk SOM and one with low. These results showed that 0–40% of SOM carbon is used as substrate for soil microorganisms. Furthermore a different substrate usage was identified for different microorganisms. Gram-negative bacteria were found to prefer recent plant material as microbial carbon source while Gram-positive bacteria use substantial amounts of SOM carbon. This was indicated by 13C as well as 14C signatures of their PLFA. Our results find evidence to support ‘priming’ in that PLFA indicative of Gram-negative bacteria associated with roots contain both plant- and SOM-derived C. Most interestingly, we find PLFA indicative of archeobacteria (methanothrophs) that may indicate the use of other carbon sources than plant material and SOM to a substantial amount suggesting that inert or slow carbon pools are not essential to explain carbon dynamics in soil.