Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 6, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9960
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Funding
- International Institute of Applied System Analysis (IIASA)
- Austrian Science Fund through a Adaptive Evolution of Mutualistic Interactions [TECT I-106 G11]
- European Commission
- European Science Foundation
- Austrian Ministry of Science and Research
- Vienna Science and Technology Fund
- European Research Council Synergy [ERC-2013-SyG-610028 IMBALANCE-P]
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences [TC4F]
- Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning
- Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [I 106] Funding Source: researchfish
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The chemical structure of organic matter has been shown to be only marginally important for its decomposability by microorganisms. The question of why organic matter does accumulate in the face of powerful microbial degraders is thus key for understanding terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycling. Here we demonstrate, based on an individual-based microbial community model, that social dynamics among microbes producing extracellular enzymes ('decomposers') and microbes exploiting the catalytic activities of others ('cheaters') regulate organic matter turnover. We show that the presence of cheaters increases nitrogen retention and organic matter build-up by downregulating the ratio of extracellular enzymes to total microbial biomass, allowing nitrogen-rich microbial necromass to accumulate. Moreover, increasing catalytic efficiencies of enzymes are outbalanced by a strong negative feedback on enzyme producers, leading to less enzymes being produced at the community level. Our results thus reveal a possible control mechanism that may buffer soil CO2 emissions in a future climate.
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