Marie-Laure Toussaint

Above- and belowground linkages in Sphagnum peatland: climate warming affects plant-microbial interactions

Peatlands contain approximately one third of all soil organic carbon (SOC). Warming can alter above- and belowground linkages that regulate soil organic carbon dynamics and C-balance in peatlands. Here we examine the multiyear impact of in situ experimental warming on the microbial food web, vegetation, and their feedbacks with soil chemistry. We provide evidence of both positive and negative impacts of warming on specific microbial functional groups, leading to destabilization of the microbial food web. We observed a strong reduction (70%) in the biomass of top-predators (testate amoebae) in warmed plots. Such a loss caused a shortening of microbial food chains, which in turn stimulated microbial activity, leading to slight increases in levels of nutrients and labile C in water. We further show that warming altered the regulatory role of Sphagnum-polyphenols on microbial community structure with a potential inhibition of top predators. In addition, warming caused a decrease in Sphagnum cover and an increase in vascular plant cover. Using structural equation modelling, we show that changes in the microbial food web affected the relationships between plants, soil water chemistry, and microbial communities. These results suggest that warming will destabilize C and nutrient recycling of peatlands via changes in above- and belowground linkages, and therefore, the microbial food web associated with mosses will feedback positively to global warming by destabilizing the carbon cycle. This study confirms that microbial food webs thus constitute a key element in the functioning of peatland ecosystems. Their study can help understand how mosses, as ecosystem engineers, tightly regulate biogeochemical cycling and climate feedback in peatlands.

Effect of a temperature gradient on Sphagnum fallax and its associated living microbial communities: a study under controlled conditions.

Microbial communities living in Sphagnum are known to constitute early indicators of ecosystem disturbances, but little is known about their response (including their trophic relationships) to climate change. A microcosm experiment was designed to test the effects of a temperature gradient (15, 20, and 25°C) on microbial communities including different trophic groups (primary producers, decomposers, and unicellular predators) in Sphagnum segments (0-3 cm and 3-6 cm of the capitulum). Relationships between microbial communities and abiotic factors (pH, conductivity, temperature, and polyphenols) were also studied. The density and the biomass of testate amoebae in Sphagnum upper segments increased and their community structure changed in heated treatments. The biomass of testate amoebae was linked to the biomass of bacteria and to the total biomass of other groups added and, thus, suggests that indirect effects on the food web structure occurred. Redundancy analysis revealed that microbial assemblages differed strongly in Sphagnum upper segments along a temperature gradient in relation to abiotic factors. The sensitivity of these assemblages made them interesting indicators of climate change. Phenolic compounds represented an important explicative factor in microbial assemblages and outlined the potential direct and (or) indirect effects of phenolics on microbial communities.

To What Extent Do Food Preferences Explain the Trophic Position of Heterotrophic and Mixotrophic Microbial Consumers in a Sphagnum Peatland

Although microorganisms are the primary drivers of biogeochemical cycles, the structure and functioning of microbial food webs are poorly studied. This is the case in Sphagnum peatlands, where microbial communities play a key role in the global carbon cycle. Here, we explored the structure of the microbial food web from a Sphagnum peatland by analyzing (1) the density and biomass of different microbial functional groups, (2) the natural stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) signatures of key microbial consumers (testate amoebae), and (3) the digestive vacuole contents of Hyalosphenia papilio, the dominant testate amoeba species in our system. Our results showed that the feeding type of testate amoeba species (bacterivory, algivory, or both) translates into their trophic position as assessed by isotopic signatures. Our study further demonstrates, for H. papilio, the energetic benefits of mixotrophy when the density of its preferential prey is low. Overall, our results show that testate amoebae occupy different trophic levels within the microbial food web, depending on their feeding behavior, the density of their food resources, and their metabolism (i.e., mixotrophy vs. heterotrophy). Combined analyses of predation, community structure, and stable isotopes now allow the structure of microbial food webs to be more completely described, which should lead to improved models of microbial community function.

Atmospheric phenanthrene pollution modulates carbon allocation in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

The influence of atmospheric phenanthrene (PHE) exposure (160 μg m(-3)) during one month on carbon allocation in clover was investigated by integrative (plant growth analysis) and instantaneous (13)CO(2) pulse-labelling approaches. PHE exposure diminished plant growth parameters (relative growth rate and net assimilation rate) and disturbed photosynthesis (carbon assimilation rate and chlorophyll content), leading to a 25% decrease in clover biomass. The root-shoot ratio was significantly enhanced (from 0.32 to 0.44). Photosynthates were identically allocated to leaves while less allocated to stems and roots. PHE exposure had a significant overall effect on the (13)C partitioning among clover organs as more carbon was retained in leaves at the expense of roots and stems. The findings indicate that PHE decreases root exudation or transfer to symbionts and in leaves, retains carbon in a non-structural form diverting photosynthates away from growth and respiration (emergence of an additional C loss process).

Exposure chambers for studying the partitioning of atmospheric PAHs in environmental compartments: validation and calibration using experimental and computational approaches.

The environmental partitioning of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) conditions their entry into food chains and subsequent risks for human health. The need for new experimental exposure devices for elucidating the mechanisms governing ecosystemic PAH transfer motivated the elaboration of an original small-scale exposure chamber (EC). A dual approach pairing experimentation and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was selected to provide comprehensive validation of this EC as a tool to study the transfer and biological effects of atmospheric PAH pollution in microsystems. Soil samples and passive air samplers (PASs) were exposed to atmospheric pollution by phenanthrene (PHE), a gaseous PAH, for 2 weeks in examples of the EC being tested, set up under different conditions. Dynamic concentrations of atmospheric PHE and its uptake by PASs were simulated with CFD, results showing homogeneous distribution and constant atmospheric PHE concentrations inside the ECs. This work provides insight into the setting of given concentrations and pollution levels when using such ECs. The combination of experimentation and CFD is a successful ECs calibration method that should be developed with other semivolatile organic pollutants, including those that tend to partition in the aerosol phase.