Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Microbial Decomposition of Cellulose in Soil: Insights Into the Roles of Resource Stoichiometry and Water Content

Fatemeh Dehghani, Robin Christian Wagner, Еvgenia Blagodatskaya, Steffen Schlüter, Thomas Reitz

European Journal of Soil Science · 2025

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Summary

ABSTRACT Decomposition kinetics of carbon (C) substrates in soil vary linearly with changing soil conditions until specific thresholds are reached, where metabolic pathways change completely. These thresholds challenge process‐based modeling, e.g., by determining whether nitrogen (N) addition promotes or suppresses microbial respiration. Here, we aimed to identify such thresholds in cellulose decomposition imposed by C, N, and oxygen limitation by manipulating resource stoichiometry and water content in controlled experiments. Agricultural soils were incubated for 35 days under different cellulose amendments, at different water contents with or without nutrient addition. Resource stoichiometry coinciding with microbial biomass C/N ratios imposed a clear threshold behaviour on growth dynami

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1111/ejss.70184
Catalogue ID
SNmois7ug0-9yn29i
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