Distinctive mechanisms of soil priming in different stages and its response to nitrogen addition along a temperate forest elevation gradient

Abstract

Priming of soil organic carbon (SOC) mineralization by fresh carbon inputs plays an important role in terrestrial carbon cycling. Despite the attempts to elucidate the mechanisms of soil priming and its response to nitrogen addition, findings remain discordant or even contradictory. We conducted a 30-day incubation experiment using ¹³C-labeled glucose and nitrogen addition on 51 soils (belonging to 15 soil profiles along a temperate forest elevation gradient). Results showed that positive priming peaked in the first four days of incubation, and then declined and remained relatively stable. Early-stage priming was positively correlated with the response of soil microbial biomass and SOC-derived dissolved organic carbon. In the late stage, extracellular enzyme activities increased, and their responses were positively correlated with priming intensity. These results suggested that early-stage priming was mainly driven by the adjustment in soil microbial biomass and the abiotic mediation of mineral-protected organic compounds, and late-stage priming was caused by the increased enzyme activities. Considering the pre-increased copiotrophic bacterial taxa and the minimal nitrogen demand in the late stage, the “stoichiometric decomposition” theory might be responsible for late-stage priming. Nitrogen addition decreased MBC content and soil extracellular enzyme activities, leading to lower SOC mineralization. However, the suppression effects were comparable between the treatments without and with glucose addition. Thus, nitrogen addition had negligible effect on carbon-induced priming intensity. Knowledge about the temporal pattern of soil priming and how its response to nitrogen addition could improve the predictions of global carbon distribution and dynamics.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

priming effect / temporal variation / microbial nitrogen mining / stoichiometric decomposition / abiotic mediation / nitrogen availability

Highlight

	● Positive priming peaked in the early stage, and then declined and remained stable.
	● Early priming was attributed to the increased MBC content and abiotic mediation.
	● Late priming was further attributed to the increased enzyme activities.
	● Nitrogen addition had no effect on carbon-induced priming intensity.

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