Decadal extreme drought reduces alpine subsoil carbon stocks
Abstract
Grassland soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are increasingly vulnerable to intensified drought. Yet, how long-term, especially extreme, drought affects these C reserves across soil profiles remains unresolved. Here, we present the response of SOC stocks at various depths (0 to 60 cm) using an experiment involving a 10-year drought gradient (P, 1/2 P, 1/4 P, and 1/12 P, where P is ambient precipitation) in an alpine grassland. We found that extreme drought (1/12 P) caused significant SOC losses in the subsoil, whereas mild to moderate droughts had no significant effects on SOC at any depth. Under extreme drought, SOC stocks declined by 27% in the 20 to 30 cm layer and by 37% in the 30 to 40 cm layer, while no significant changes were observed in the topsoil (0 to 20 cm) and the deeper layer (40 to 60 cm). Subsoil C losses were primarily driven by reductions in mineral-associated organic C (MAOC) rather than particulate organic C. Multiyear extreme drought disrupted soil–microbe–mineral interactions, as indicated by reductions in soil nitrogen availability, microbial biomass, carbon use efficiency, and mineral-binding agents. These changes collectively undermined the formation and stabilization of MAOC. Our findings suggest that prolonged extreme drought can weaken subsoil C storage and stability, highlighting the need to incorporate subsoil processes into Earth System Models to better predict soil C–climate feedback under future drought scenarios.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (15)
Ronglei Zhou
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jinsong Wang
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Quancheng Wang
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ning Liu
Chenglong Ye
College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University
Jingjing Shi
Mengjie Liu
School of Chemistry
Zhangwei Gao
College of Juncao Science and Ecology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Houkun Chu
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhenrui Zhang
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Bin Niu
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Song Wang
Ruiyang Zhang
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dashuan Tian
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shuli Niu
Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences