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Root litter decomposition is a major component of carbon (C) cycling ingrasslands, where it provides energy and nutrients for soil microbes andfauna. This is especially important in grasslands where fire is common andremoves aboveground litter accumulation. In this study, we investigatedwhether fire affects root decomposition and C flow through the belowgroundfood web. In a greenhouse experiment, we applied 13C-enriched bigbluestem (Andropogon gerardii) root litter to intact tallgrass prairie soil cores collectedfrom annually burned (AB) and infrequently burned (IB) treatments at theKonza Prairie Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. Incorporation of13C into microbial phospholipid fatty acids and nematode trophic groupswas measured on six occasions during a 180-day decomposition study todetermine how C was translocated through the soil food web. Results showedsignificantly different soil communities between treatments and highermicrobial abundance for IB. Root decomposition occurred rapidly and wassignificantly greater for AB. Microbes and their nematode consumersimmediately assimilated root litter C in both treatments. Root litter C waspreferentially incorporated in a few groups of microbes and nematodes, butdepended on burn treatment: fungi, Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positivebacteria, and fungivore nematodes for AB and only omnivore nematodes for IB.The overall microbial pool of root-litter-derived C significantly increasedover time but was not significantly different between burn treatments. Thenematode pool of root-litter-derived C also significantly increased overtime, and was significantly higher for the AB treatment at 35 and 90 daysafter litter addition. In conclusion, the C flow from root litter tomicrobes to nematodes is not only measurable but also significant, indicatingthat higher nematode trophic levels are critical components of C flow duringroot decomposition, which, in turn, is significantly affected by fire. Notonly does fire affect the soil community and root decomposition, but thelower microbial abundance, greater root turnover, and the increasedincorporation of root litter C by microbes and nematodes for AB suggeststhat annual burning increases root-litter-derived C flow through the soilfood web of the tallgrass prairie

Fire affects root decomposition, soil food web structure, and carbon flow in tallgrass prairie