Microbial life history mediates the drought-induced decrease in wood decomposition in subtropical forests

Progressive intensification of drought regimes worldwide threatens wood decomposition - a critical biogeochemical process in forest carbon cycling. However, the interactions between microbial strategies, wood traits and microclimate in regulating wood decomposition remain poorly understood under dro...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Jia, Shuxian, Zhou, Xuhui, Fu, Yuling, Zhou, Guiyao|||0000-0002-1385-3913, Zhou, Lingyan, Wang, Xinxin, Jiang, Zheng, Sardans i Galobart, Jordi|||0000-0003-2478-0219, Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:321788
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/321788
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/ele.70133
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Deadwood decomposition
Drought
Microbial strategy
Wood traits
Carbon cycling
Descripción
Sumario:Progressive intensification of drought regimes worldwide threatens wood decomposition - a critical biogeochemical process in forest carbon cycling. However, the interactions between microbial strategies, wood traits and microclimate in regulating wood decomposition remain poorly understood under drought conditions. In a throughfall exclusion experiment (control 35% and 70% rainfall reduction) across 12 tree species, we found that drought-induced reductions in wood CO2 efflux rates were primarily driven by wood traits (density and carbon reduction) and shifts in fungal K/r-strategies. Coarse wood debris with higher Basidiomycota and lower Ascomycota abundance decomposed faster. Significant positive correlations were observed between fungal K/r-strategies and wood CO2 efflux under control, 35%, and 70% rainfall reduction, while bacterial strategies showed no correlation. Our findings highlight the greater drought sensitivity of fungi than bacteria, emphasising their critical role in forest carbon dynamics and informing carbon models to improve the prediction of climate-biosphere feedback in the changing world.