Campus Units

Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Publication Date

7-2016

Journal or Book Title

Soil Biology and Biochemistry

Volume

98

First Page

95

Last Page

98

DOI

10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.04.010

Abstract

The importance of lignin as a recalcitrant constituent of soil organic matter (SOM) remains contested. Associations with iron (Fe) oxides have been proposed to specifically protect lignin from decomposition, but impacts of Fe-lignin interactions on mineralization rates remain unclear. Oxygen (O2) fluctuations characteristic of humid tropical soils drive reductive Fe dissolution and precipitation, facilitating multiple types of Fe-lignin interactions that could variably decompose or protect lignin. We tested impacts of Fe addition on 13C methoxyl-labeled lignin mineralization in soils that were exposed to static or fluctuating O2. Iron addition suppressed lignin mineralization to 21% of controls, regardless of O2 availability. However, Fe addition had no effect on soil CO2 production, implying that Fe oxides specifically protected lignin methoxyls but not bulk SOM. Iron oxide-lignin interactions represent a specific mechanism for lignin stabilization, linking SOM biochemical composition to turnover via geochemistry.

Comments

This article is from Soil Biology and Biochemistry 98 (2016): 95, doi: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.04.010. Posted with permission.

Rights

Works produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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