Microbial-derived carbon outweighs plant-derived carbon in soil carbon accumulation under woody intercropping in tea plantations

Clicks: 15
ID: 333392
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #120 of 151 articles by views in journal of plant ecology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 151 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agroecosystems is critical for climate change mitigation, yet the microbial pathways through which plant diversity influences SOC accumulation remain poorly understood. Using a multisite paired observational survey combined with multi-omics analyses, we investigated the microbial mechanisms underlying soil carbon dynamics in tea (Camellia sinensis) plantations under woody intercropping. Compared with monoculture, intercropping increased SOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) by 33.5% and 43.3%, respectively, whereas mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) remained unchanged. Microbial necromass carbon—particularly fungal necromass—increased significantly, while plant-derived carbon did not differ between treatments, suggesting that the observed carbon accumulation was primarily derived from microbial transformation rather than increased plant-derived inputs. Intercropping intensified microbial nitrogen limitation, increased the relative abundance of N-cycling functional genes, and shifted fungal community composition from Ascomycota towards Basidiomycota. Random forest modeling further revealed that NO3- was the strongest predictor of POC variation, whereas microbial necromass carbon was the strongest predictor of MAOC variation, suggesting that N availability and microbial transformation processes differentially regulate the accumulation of distinct SOC fractions. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that microbial-derived carbon contributes more than plant-derived carbon to soil carbon accumulation under woody intercropping, and that microbial necromass plays a particularly important role in predicting the accumulation of the more persistent MAOC pool. These results highlight microbial N limitation as a potential ecological linkage between plant diversity and soil carbon persistence, and provide a trait-based framework for managing plant–microbe interactions to enhance carbon sequestration in perennial agroforestry systems.
Reference Key
openalex_W7223109093 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Sheng Tang, Kang Ni, Yaqin Long, Qingxu Ma, Xiu Liu, Lifeng Ma, Yuanzhi Shi, Linbo Chen, Xiangde Yang, Jianyun Ruan
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal journal of plant ecology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jpe/rtag245
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtag245
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.