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<p>Soil organic carbon (SOC) loss driven by water erosion poses a dual threat to agricultural biogeochemical cycles and global carbon balance. While soil microbial communities are known to respond to erosion, their adaptive strategies and the consequent impacts on the fate of SOC across soil profiles in various positions of eroded landscapes remain poorly understood. This study integrated observations from 0–100&#xa0;cm soil profiles in the upper (eroding) and lower (depositional) slope positions in northeastern China's black soils to investigate the adaptive responses of soil microbiomes to water erosion stress and their cascading effects on SOC decomposition. Water erosion induced distinct microbial adaptive strategies across soil depths, with major changes occurring in the topsoil (0–40&#xa0;cm) whereas the fate of SOC deeper in soil was unaffected. Erosion reduced SOC content in the upper slope, particularly in the 2–10&#xa0;μm colloidal soil particles by 30%–39%, triggering microbial carbon limitation and a community shift towards microbial genera (e.g., <i>Streptomyces</i>) capable of decomposing stable and recalcitrant carbon compounds. These shifts were associated with increased abundance of genes involved in plant-derived carbon degradation and β-glucosidase activity. The SOC degradation rate was 41%–48% higher at the erosion-prone upper slope than at the depositional lower slope. This demonstrates that erosion not only causes physical carbon removal but also enhances biogeochemical decomposition. Effective erosion control is therefore key to sustaining soil quality, maintaining&#xa0;agricultural production and achieving soil carbon sequestration.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Microbial adaptation to water erosion stress accelerated organic carbon decomposition

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月31日

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  • Yulong Shi,
  • Tingting Li,
  • Weiping Hao,
  • Yixuan Gao,
  • Mengni Li,
  • Yu Liu,
  • Dong Wang,
  • Xinyuan Wei,
  • Qingwen Zhang,
  • Gerard H. Ros

摘要

Soil organic carbon (SOC) loss driven by water erosion poses a dual threat to agricultural biogeochemical cycles and global carbon balance. While soil microbial communities are known to respond to erosion, their adaptive strategies and the consequent impacts on the fate of SOC across soil profiles in various positions of eroded landscapes remain poorly understood. This study integrated observations from 0–100 cm soil profiles in the upper (eroding) and lower (depositional) slope positions in northeastern China's black soils to investigate the adaptive responses of soil microbiomes to water erosion stress and their cascading effects on SOC decomposition. Water erosion induced distinct microbial adaptive strategies across soil depths, with major changes occurring in the topsoil (0–40 cm) whereas the fate of SOC deeper in soil was unaffected. Erosion reduced SOC content in the upper slope, particularly in the 2–10 μm colloidal soil particles by 30%–39%, triggering microbial carbon limitation and a community shift towards microbial genera (e.g., Streptomyces) capable of decomposing stable and recalcitrant carbon compounds. These shifts were associated with increased abundance of genes involved in plant-derived carbon degradation and β-glucosidase activity. The SOC degradation rate was 41%–48% higher at the erosion-prone upper slope than at the depositional lower slope. This demonstrates that erosion not only causes physical carbon removal but also enhances biogeochemical decomposition. Effective erosion control is therefore key to sustaining soil quality, maintaining agricultural production and achieving soil carbon sequestration.

Graphical Abstract