Microbial Nitrogen Cycling Becomes Conservative and Resilient to Long-Term Warming in High-Latitude Carbon-Limited Soils.

ABSTRACT: High-latitude soils are warming rapidly due to climate change, raising concerns about long-term impacts on nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) cycling. Here, we investigate how decadal soil warming affects microbial N transformations in subarctic grasslands using natural geothermal gradients with soil temperatures ranging from ambient to +12.3°C. Seasonal measurements of N-pools and gross N transformation rates-including the production and uptake of amino acids, ammonium, and nitrate-were used to characterize microbial responses across warming intensities and time. Warming enhanced microbial turnover of amino acids by accelerating both gross amino acid production and uptake, while net depolymerization remained unchanged. In contrast, ammonium production remained stable, but its microbial uptake in

SUBMITTER: Zevenhuizen AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12750283 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature