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The role of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle: tracking the below‐ground microbial processing of plant‐derived carbon for manipulating carbon dynamics in agricultural systems
Author(s) -
Gougoulias Christos,
Clark Joanna M,
Shaw Liz J
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.6577
Subject(s) - environmental science , carbon cycle , soil carbon , atmospheric carbon cycle , greenhouse gas , carbon sequestration , agriculture , soil water , carbon sink , ecosystem , environmental chemistry , carbon dioxide , ecology , soil science , chemistry , biology
It is well known that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ) (and other greenhouse gases) have increased markedly as a result of human activity since the industrial revolution. It is perhaps less appreciated that natural and managed soils are an important source and sink for atmospheric CO 2 and that, primarily as a result of the activities of soil microorganisms, there is a soil‐derived respiratory flux of CO 2 to the atmosphere that overshadows by tenfold the annual CO 2 flux from fossil fuel emissions. Therefore small changes in the soil carbon cycle could have large impacts on atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. Here we discuss the role of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle and review the main methods that have been used to identify the microorganisms responsible for the processing of plant photosynthetic carbon inputs to soil. We discuss whether application of these techniques can provide the information required to underpin the management of agro‐ecosystems for carbon sequestration and increased agricultural sustainability. We conclude that, although crucial in enabling the identification of plant‐derived carbon‐utilising microbes, current technologies lack the high‐throughput ability to quantitatively apportion carbon use by phylogentic groups and its use efficiency and destination within the microbial metabolome. It is this information that is required to inform rational manipulation of the plant–soil system to favour organisms or physiologies most important for promoting soil carbon storage in agricultural soil. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.