The DIRT Experiment
Abstract
Resolving carbon use by fungi and bacteria is thought to capture disparate life strategies for soil microbial decomposers, associating bacteria with a fast but leaky use of carbon (C) and nutrients, and fungi with a slow but efficient use. We tested these ideas using the Detritus Input and Removal Treatments (DIRT) experiment, where litter and root inputs had been experimentally manipulated during 23 years, generating differences in soil C quality. We find no support for the presumed differences between fungal- and bacterial-dominated detrital food webs in these soils, calling for a revision of our basic understanding of microbial communities and the processes they regulate.
Department
Soil Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology
Publication Date
7-1-2015
Journal Title
The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
Publisher
Wiley
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Rousk, J. and Frey, S.D. (2015), The DIRT Experiment. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 96: 492-493. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9623-96.3.492
Rights
© 2015 by the Ecological Society of America