NGEE Arctic and EMSL collaborate to provide molecular-scale insights into SOM degradation
Date Published
Biochemical composition is proposed to improve process-based models of SOM degradation and climate feedbacks
Objective
- Determine chemical composition during degradation of soil organic matter (SOM) in controlled incubation studies.
New Science
- Biochemical composition is proposed to improve process-based models of SOM degradation and climate feedbacks
Impact
- Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) was used to assess SOM molecular composition. Amino sugars, peptides, and carbohydrate-like compounds are disproportionately more susceptible to microbial degradation than others in the Arctic soil under warming.
Image with caption
Image
Molecular-scale investigations reveal the susceptibility of organic carbon stored in Arctic permafrost to microbial degradation with increases in temperature.
Citation(s)
Funding
This research was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 as part of the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE Arctic) project.