2026-10-13T16:41:46Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/31230100 2026-09-14T07:02:02Z category_24235 category_24217 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Prokaryotic traits and microbial activities predict litter decomposition and greenhouse gas fluxes across Greenlandic soils Jonathan Donhauser (22144714) Terrestrial ecology Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) Arctic soils extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) microbial traits <p dir="ltr">Arctic soils store large amounts of organic matter (OM) and its decomposition by microorganisms and subsequent release of greenhouse gases (GHG) are sensitive to both temperature and moisture. Here, we use a temperature and moisture gradient across Greenland to decipher microbial emissions of CO₂, N₂O and CH₄ as well as OM (cellulose, green tea and rooibos tea) decomposition under climate change. GHG fluxes and OM decomposition rates were linked to climatic and edaphic parameters, microbial functional genes, extracellular enzyme activities as well as prokaryotic ecological strategies based on a range of phenotypic and genomic traits. A prokaryotic ecological trait cluster with large genomes and long cells, the ability to form spores and high potential growth rates was associated with high in situ CO₂emissions, but not OM decomposition rates, presumably because activity alternated with inactivity due to spore formation. The large genomes suggest metabolic versatility such as the ability to degrade complex OM and may therefore mediate a positive effect of phenol oxidase activities on CO₂ emissions. OM decomposition was promoted by a cluster with stress response traits such as high salinity tolerance, which may allow continuous activity throughout harsh conditions thereby sustaining continuous OM decomposition. Conversely, a cluster with small genomes and no stress response traits was associated with low CO₂ emissions and litter decomposition rates which may be attributed to an efficient metabolism with low resource demand as well as periods of dormancy. Phenol oxidase activities were moreover key predictors of N₂O emissions, indicating degradation of lignocellulosic OM to access N-rich compounds as a driver of N-cycling activities in N-limited Arctic soils. Collectively, our study unravels linkages between climate, microbial activities, prokaryotic traits and C- and N-cycling in Arctic soils highlighting that microbial ecological strategies can modulate OM decomposition.</p> 2026-09-14T07:02:02Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.31230100.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Prokaryotic_traits_and_microbial_activities_predict_litter_decomposition_and_greenhouse_gas_fluxes_across_Greenlandic_soils/31230100 CC BY 4.0