A global map of microbial residence time
Soil microbes are the fundamental engine for carbon (C) cycling. Microbial residence time (MRT) therefore determines the mineralization of soil organic C, releasing C as heterotrophic respiration and contributing substantially to the C efflux in terrestrial ecosystems. We took use of a comprehensive...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Dataset |
| Language: | unknown |
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2021
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| Online Access: | https://zenodo.org/record/5497287 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4f4qrfjct |
| Summary: | Soil microbes are the fundamental engine for carbon (C) cycling. Microbial residence time (MRT) therefore determines the mineralization of soil organic C, releasing C as heterotrophic respiration and contributing substantially to the C efflux in terrestrial ecosystems. We took use of a comprehensive dataset (2627 data points) and calculated the MRT based on the basal respiration and microbial biomass C. Large variations in MRT were found among biomes, with the largest MRT in boreal forests and grasslands and smallest in natural wetlands. Biogeographic patterns of MRT were found along climate (temperature and precipitation), vegetation variables (root C density and net primary productivity), and edaphic factors (soil texture, pH, topsoil porosity, soil C, and total nitrogen). Among environmental factors, edaphic properties dominate the MRT variations. We further mapped the MRT at the global scale with an empirical model. The simulated and observed MRT were highly consistent at plot‐ (R2=0.86), site‐ (R2=0.88), and biome‐ (R2=0.99) levels. The global average of MRT was estimated to be 38 (±5) days. A clear latitudinal biogeographic pattern was found for MRT with lower values in tropical regions and higher values in the Arctic. The biome‐ and global‐level estimates of MRT serve as valuable data for parameterizing and benchmarking microbial models. Funding provided by: San Diego State UniversityCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007099Award Number: Funding provided by: CSU Program for Education & Research in Biotechnology*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: Funding provided by: CSU Program for Education & Research in BiotechnologyCrossref Funder Registry ID: Data sources This study was based on the soil microbial metabolic quotient dataset in Xu et al. (2017), which synthesized data spanning from 1970 to 2016. In this study, we further updated that dataset to 2020. The same criteria for data compilation in Xu et al (2017) have been applied to update the dataset in this ... |
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