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Cellulose plus C4 grass steers prairie soil microbes
Adding cellulose and heat-tolerant Andropogon gerardii shifted restored prairie soils toward higher fungal biomass and slower-growing bacteria that may retain carbon.
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What three restoration levers were tested?
Plant-species richness, remnant-prairie inoculation, and cellulose amendment, crossed with warming.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
How long and how warm was the experiment?
62 days; one room +4°C above ambient.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
What did cellulose do to fungal:bacterial lipids?
Ratios were significantly higher with cellulose regardless of plant treatment.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
Which fungal lipids increased with cellulose?
18:2ω6,9c and 18:1ω9c; bacterial 15:0 iso and 17:0 cyclo were lower.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
Did plant-species number strongly change ambient microbial communities?
Few effects on enzymes, total lipids, or overall lipid composition; one Gram-negative marker differed.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
What restoration recipe do the authors recommend?
Couple cellulose addition with heat- and drought-tolerant grasses.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
How many pots were sequenced?
72 treated pots.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
How did remnant vs agricultural soils differ?
Remnant communities were more diverse, with more Bacteroidetes/Betaproteobacteria/Verrucomicrobia/Planctomycetes.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
What happened to soil water with A. gerardii only?
About 2% higher soil water content than the three-species mix.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
Did cellulose change enzymes at ambient temperature?
No effect on extracellular enzyme activities or total lipid biomass.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified
What carbon-retention hope do the authors attach to these communities?
Soils may be adapted for greater carbon retention if temperatures remain ambient; field tests are still needed.
Source: Soil microbial restoration strategies for promoting climate-ready prairie ecosystems · DOI · quote verified