Dynamics of microbial community composition and soil organic carbon mineralization in soil following addition of pyrogenic and fresh organic matter

Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) additions to soils can have large impacts on soil organic C (SOC) cycling. Because the soil microbial community drives SOC fluxes, understanding how PyOM additions affect soil microbes is essential to understanding how PyOM affects SOC. We studied SOC dynamics and surveyed soil microbial communities after OM additions in a field experiment. We produced and applied either 350{degrees}C corn stover PyOM or an equivalent amount of dried corn stover to a Typic Fragiudept soil. Stover increased SOC-derived and total CO2 fluxes (up to 6x), and caused rapid and persistent changes in bacterial community composition over 82 days. In contrast, PyOM only temporarily increased total soil CO2 fluxes (up to 2x) and caused fewer changes in bacterial community composition. 70% of the OTUs that increased in response to PyOM additions also responded to stover additions. These OTUs likely thrive on easily-mineralizable C that is found both in stover and, to a lesser extent, in PyOM. In contrast, we also identified unique PyOM-responders, which may respond to substrates such as polyaromatic C. In particular, members of Gemmatimonadetes tended to increase in relative abundance in response to PyOM but not to fresh organic matter. We identify taxa to target for future investigations of the mechanistic underpinnings of ecological phenomena associated with PyOM additions to soil.