Does metal pollution matter with C retention by rice soil?
Soil respiration, resulting in decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC), emits CO2 to the atmosphere and increases under climate warming. However, the impact of heavy metal pollution on soil respiration in croplands is not well understood. Here we show significantly increased soil respiration and efflux of both CO2 and CH4 with a concomitant reduction in SOC storage from a metal polluted rice soil in China. This change is linked to a decline in soil aggregation, in microbial abundance and in fungal dominance. The carbon release is presumably driven by changes in carbon cycling occurring in the stressed soil microbial community with heavy metal pollution in the soil. The pollution-induced increase in soil respiration and loss of SOC storage will likely counteract efforts to increase SOC sequestration in rice paddies for climate change mitigation.
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Rongjun
R
Bian
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Kun
K
Cheng
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Jufeng
J
Zheng
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Xiaoyu
X
Liu
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Yongzhuo
Y
Liu
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Zhipeng
Z
Li
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Lianqing
L
Li
Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, 23 St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK.
Pete
P
Smith
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Genxing
G
Pan
Department of Environmental Science, University of California Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
David
D
Crowley
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Jinwei
J
Zheng
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Xuhui
X
Zhang
Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China.
Liangyun
L
Zhang
1] Institute of Resource, Ecosystem and Environment of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095-China [2] Department of Soil Science and Soil Water Conservation, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Qaiser
Q
Hussain
D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000737:chemistry*; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry*; D012275:Oryza / Q000382:microbiology*; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*
D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008697:Methane