Contribution of soil algae to the global carbon cycle

TY - JOUR

T1 - Contribution of soil algae to the global carbon cycle

AU - Jassey, Vincent E.J.

AU - Walcker, Romain

AU - Kardol, Paul

AU - Geisen, Stefan

AU - Heger, Thierry

AU - Lamentowicz, Mariusz

AU - Hamard, Samuel

AU - Lara, Enrique

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2022 New Phytologist Foundation

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Soil photoautotrophic prokaryotes and micro-eukaryotes – known as soil algae – are, together with heterotrophic microorganisms, a constitutive part of the microbiome in surface soils. Similar to plants, they fix atmospheric carbon (C) through photosynthesis for their own growth, yet their contribution to global and regional biogeochemical C cycling still remains quantitatively elusive. Here, we compiled an extensive dataset on soil algae to generate a better understanding of their distribution across biomes and predict their productivity at a global scale by means of machine learning modelling. We found that, on average, (5.5 ± 3.4) × 106 algae inhabit each gram of surface soil. Soil algal abundance especially peaked in acidic, moist and vegetated soils. We estimate that, globally, soil algae take up around 3.6 Pg C per year, which corresponds to c. 6% of the net primary production of terrestrial vegetation. We demonstrate that the C fixed by soil algae is crucial to the global C cycle and should be integrated into land-based efforts to mitigate C emissions.

AB - Soil photoautotrophic prokaryotes and micro-eukaryotes – known as soil algae – are, together with heterotrophic microorganisms, a constitutive part of the microbiome in surface soils. Similar to plants, they fix atmospheric carbon (C) through photosynthesis for their own growth, yet their contribution to global and regional biogeochemical C cycling still remains quantitatively elusive. Here, we compiled an extensive dataset on soil algae to generate a better understanding of their distribution across biomes and predict their productivity at a global scale by means of machine learning modelling. We found that, on average, (5.5 ± 3.4) × 106 algae inhabit each gram of surface soil. Soil algal abundance especially peaked in acidic, moist and vegetated soils. We estimate that, globally, soil algae take up around 3.6 Pg C per year, which corresponds to c. 6% of the net primary production of terrestrial vegetation. We demonstrate that the C fixed by soil algae is crucial to the global C cycle and should be integrated into land-based efforts to mitigate C emissions.

KW - biogeography

KW - microbial photosynthesis

KW - net primary productivity (NPP)

KW - photoautotrophs

KW - soil carbon (C) cycle

KW - soil microbiome

KW - international

KW - Plan_S-Compliant_NO

U2 - 10.1111/nph.17950

DO - 10.1111/nph.17950

M3 - Article

C2 - 35103312

AN - SCOPUS:85123946427

SN - 0028-646X

VL - 234

SP - 64

EP - 76

JO - New Phytologist

JF - New Phytologist

IS - 1

ER -