Stronger microbial respiratory thermal adaptation under higher warming levels

doi:10.1093/jpe/rtag105

J Plant Ecol ›› Advance articles DOI:10.1093/jpe/rtag105

Stronger microbial respiratory thermal adaptation under higher warming levels

Zhoujing Tan¹, Baizhi Jiang¹, Muxi Guo¹, Jianping Wu², Xuhui Zhou¹, Hongyang Chen^1*

1 Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management- Ministry of Education, School of Ecology, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, 150040, China;
2 Yunnan Key Laboratory of Plant Reproductive Adaptation and Evolutionary Ecology and Institute of Biodiversity, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
^*For correspondence:
Hongyang Chen
School of Forestry, Northeast Forestry University
26 Hexing Road, Harbin, 150040, China
Email:hychen@nefu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86 13681815869

Received:2026-03-24 Revised:2026-05-05 Accepted:2026-05-13 Published:2026-05-20
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42573073), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF0806900), and the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (YQ2024D003).

土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性随增温强度增加而增强

Abstract

Abstract: Microbial thermal adaptation plays a crucial regulatory role in the soil carbon (C) cycle, with stronger adaptation weakening the positive feedback between climate warming and soil CO₂ release. Previous studies have primarily focused on single-level warming experiments; however, climate change effect occurs incrementally with variable rates, and their regulatory effects on soil microbial thermal adaptation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate microbial respiratory thermal adaptation across a warming gradient based on a 4-year multi-level warming experiment in a subtropical forest. Our results show that microbial thermal adaptation is positively correlated with warming intensity. Moreover, this relationship is mediated by soil nitrogen availability and microbial C-cycling functional gene diversity. Our findings highlight the need to incorporate progressively enhanced microbial thermal adaptation strategies into next- generation C cycle models to refine predictions of C-climate feedback.

Key words: Thermal adaptation, Carbon cycling, Climate warming, Microbial community, Carbon-climate feedback, Functional gene diversity

摘要：
微生物呼吸的热适应性在土壤碳循环中起着关键的调控作用，其强度增加可有效减缓气候变暖与土壤CO?释放之间的正反馈效应。然而，现有研究多依赖单一幅度的增温实验，难以揭示气候持续变暖背景下，增温幅度变化对微生物热适应性的影响。本研究依托亚热带森林为期四年的多梯度增温平台，探究了微生物呼吸热适应随增温梯度的响应特征。结果表明，土壤微生物呼吸的热适应程度随增温强度增加而显著增强；进一步分析发现，该过程主要受土壤氮有效性及微生物碳代谢功能基因多样性的共同调控。未来的生物地球化学模型应充分考虑渐进增温下不断增强的微生物热适应性，以提高对气候变暖背景下陆地碳-气候反馈预测的准确性。

关键词: 热适应, 增温强度, 土壤氮素有效性, 碳代谢功能基因, 碳-气候反馈

Zhoujing Tan, Baizhi Jiang, Muxi Guo, Jianping Wu, Xuhui Zhou, Hongyang Chen. Stronger microbial respiratory thermal adaptation under higher warming levels[J]. J Plant Ecol, DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtag105.

[1]	Yarong Sun, Jian Li, Guowei Liang, Yunming Chen. Planting density modulates soil organic carbon sources by regulating plant lignin and microbial necromass C in temperate forests [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(2): 1-.
[2]	Mingli Wei, Jingwei Guo, Runhao Liu, Juan Xuan, Zhenxing Zhou, Zhongling Yang, Anqun Chen, Yinzhan Liu. Growing and non-growing seasons warming interactively affect plant phenology in semi-arid steppe [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-.
[3]	Chen Hu, Jinyu Gong, Zhiyuan Ma, Linxuan He, Jingpin Lei, Hongxia Cui. Nitrogen and biochar interactions promote the stabilization of the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-0.
[4]	Xuemei Wu, Zikun Mao, Weijun Sun, Yue Chen, Shuai Fang, Pengcheng Jiang, Fei Lin, Ji Ye, Mengxu Zhang, Meihui Zhu, Xugao Wang. Above- and belowground effects of ectomycorrhizal dominance on soil carbon and nitrogen in a temperate forest [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-0.
[5]	Yun Liang, Mingyan Hu, Scott X. Chang, Stavros Veresoglou, Mengxue Wang, Anqi Dong, Jie Wang, Chenyan Huang, Yiling Tian, Zilong Ma, Chengjin Chu. Community leaf nutrient characteristics drive soil carbon stabilization by regulating soil nutrient and microbial community in a subtropical forest plantation [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-.
[6]	Qiongwei Lei, Xiaoyan Kang, Mingxu Li, Nianpeng He. Divergent responses of photosynthesis and respiration underlie the nonlinear response of carbon use efficiency to temperature in sub-frigid forest in China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2026, 19(1): 1-.
[7]	Chunyue Yao, Jinchao Feng, Yeming Zhang, Zhenhua Dang, Linna Ma. Plant diversity dominates the regulation of ecosystem multifunctionality under grazing management in temperate grasslands [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(6): 1-40.
[8]	Chunhui Li, Jiguang Feng, Liu Liu, Xu Sun, Jinsheng Li, Zhuangzhuang Qian, Ranran Fu, Qingshui Yu, Biao Zhu, Xiao Tao. Nitrogen addition weakens home-field advantage of litter decomposition by altering soil pH and bacterial communities in a subtropical forest [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(5): 1-29.
[9]	Chao Wang, Jiayin Feng, Jian Song, Hongpeng Wang, Jinhua Zhang, Jingyi Ru, Yaru Lyu, Wenjing Ma, Zixuan Yang, Mengyu Yan, Xueli Qiu, Shiqang Wan. Nighttime warming reshapes thermal regimes in freshwater wetlands: cascading effects on carbon dynamics [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(4): 1-41.
[10]	Xin Chen, Qi Li, Dongdong Chen, Liang Zhao, Chunwang Xiao. Stochastic ecological processes assemble soil microbial communities in degraded patches of alpine grassland in the Sanjiangyuan National Park [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(2): 1-17.
[11]	Min Zhang, Jun Wen, Xiaoli Wang, Cancan Zhao, Yuan Ma, Yushou Ma, Shixiong Li. Rest-grazing in spring affects the soil microbial community mainly by altering plant diversity [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2025, 18(1): 1-15.
[12]	Li-Qun Lin, Luke R. Tembrock, Li Wang. Prevalence and underlying mechanisms of phylosymbiosis in land plants [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(6): 0-rtae051.
[13]	Shijie Ning, Tao Yan, Wentao Luo, Shengli Tao, Xiaoming Zou, Yujiang Li, Zijian Shangguan, Yunna Wu, Zhenhua Zhang, Jin-Sheng He. Aridity-dependent resistance but strong resilience of grassland ANPP to naturally occurring precipitation extremes [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(6): 1-12.
[14]	Mu Lan, Xiao Qiu, Wei La, Huimin Wang, Yahong Liu, Liqing Zhao, Hailian Sun. Warming and increased precipitation alter soil carbon cycling in a temperate desert steppe of Inner Mongolia [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(2): 0-rtae003.
[15]	Lelong Yin, Xiaohong Liu, Xiaomin Zeng, Ziyi Wang, Guobao Xu, Liangju Zhao, Qiangqiang Lu, Lingnan Zhang, Xiaoyu Xing. Weakened relationship between tree growth and nitrogen availability due to global CO₂ increase and warming in the Taibai Mountain timberline, central China [J]. J Plant Ecol, 2024, 17(1): 1-.