文摘
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) function has mostly been studied from the plant perspective, but there is a shortage of empirical assessments of their ecosystem level impacts on soil carbon (C). Our understanding of the role of AMF on C processing belowground has been restricted mostly to fresh plant residues, not stabilized soil organic matter. The mechanisms by which elevated CO2 (eCO2) alter soil C remain an open question but AMF likely play a role via C and nutrients, which could in turn, be plant species dependent. We assessed AMF as mediators of C processing in the rhizosphere of two grasses under eCO2. We exposed a C4 and a C3 grass to a combination of ambient and eCO2 with and without modification of the AMF communities and using stable isotopes quantified the respiration of native soil C (as rhizosphere priming), its contribution to dissolved and microbial C and the final remaining C pool. The AMF treatment impacted soil C respiration under the C3-plant and only under eCO2. eCO2 suppressed decomposition (negative priming) but this effect disappeared when the AMF community was reduced. In contrast to studies of fresh plant residues suggesting that AMF can enhance C loss, our observations indicate that AMF may promote C storage in the soil organic matter pool. Results support that AMF can mediate the effect of eCO2 on soil C in the rhizosphere of some plant species, a potential mechanism explaining variation in impacts of eCO2 on soil C storage and C balances across species and ecosystems. Keywords Arbuscular mycorrhizae Decomposition Elevated CO2 Grasses Priming Rhizosphere