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. 2022 Apr;234(1):64-76.
doi: 10.1111/nph.17950. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Contribution of soil algae to the global carbon cycle

Vincent E J Jassey  1 , Romain Walcker  1 , Paul Kardol  2 , Stefan Geisen  3   4 , Thierry Heger  5 , Mariusz Lamentowicz  6 , Samuel Hamard  1 , Enrique Lara  7
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Free article

Contribution of soil algae to the global carbon cycle

Vincent E J Jassey et al. New Phytol. 2022 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

Soil photoautotrophic prokaryotes and micro-eukaryotes - known as soil algae - are, together with heterotrophic microorganisms, a constitutive part of the microbiome in surface soils. Similar to plants, they fix atmospheric carbon (C) through photosynthesis for their own growth, yet their contribution to global and regional biogeochemical C cycling still remains quantitatively elusive. Here, we compiled an extensive dataset on soil algae to generate a better understanding of their distribution across biomes and predict their productivity at a global scale by means of machine learning modelling. We found that, on average, (5.5 ± 3.4) × 106 algae inhabit each gram of surface soil. Soil algal abundance especially peaked in acidic, moist and vegetated soils. We estimate that, globally, soil algae take up around 3.6 Pg C per year, which corresponds to c. 6% of the net primary production of terrestrial vegetation. We demonstrate that the C fixed by soil algae is crucial to the global C cycle and should be integrated into land-based efforts to mitigate C emissions.

Keywords: biogeography; microbial photosynthesis; net primary productivity (NPP); photoautotrophs; soil carbon (C) cycle; soil microbiome.

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