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Forests
Volume 16
Issue 12
10.3390/f16121784
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Effects of Laboratory Warming on Active Soil Organic Matter and Bacterial Diversity During the Long-Term Decomposition of Forest Litter in Soil Microcosms

by
Irina Kravchenko
1,*,
Natalia Ksenofontova
2,
Vyacheslav Semenov
3,
Tatyana Kuznetsova
3,
Irina Pinchuk
2,
Hui Li
4 and
Mikhail Semenov
2
1
Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119071, Russia
2
Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119017, Russia
3
Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino 142290, Russia
4
CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Silviculture, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1784; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121784 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 3 October 2025 / Revised: 18 November 2025 / Accepted: 19 November 2025 / Published: 27 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Carbon Storage in Forests: Dynamics and Management)
Versions Notes

Abstract

To investigate the combined impacts of temperature and plant residues on the mineralization capacity of soil organic matter, in addition to the impact on the taxonomic composition and activity of the soil microbiome, a 364-day experiment involving gray forest soil (Greyzemic Phaeozem Albic) was conducted under controlled laboratory conditions. Three substrate treatments were applied, control (C), amendment with aspen leaves (L), and amendment with aspen branches (B), combined with three temperature regimes (2, 12, and 22 °C). The results showed that long-term experimental warming reduced microbial alpha diversity (number of species and richness), increased microbial respiration and decomposition rates, and altered community composition. Over the year, the percentage of mineralization of added carbon was higher for leaves (29.9%–57.8%) than for branches (20.1%–47.6%). The efficiency of organic matter decomposition increased by 1.5- to 2-fold between 2 and 12 °C. Across all treatments, Proteobacteria were found to be the dominant phylum. According to α-diversity analysis, leaves served as the most preferred substrate for enhancing species representation. β-diversity analysis results indicated that temperature was the most significant factor shaping the microbial community’s structure. Our research findings provide new insights into soil organic matter formation and highlight the need for further research on microbial functional genes.
Keywords: soil organic matter; soil bacterial communities; experimental warming soil organic matter; soil bacterial communities; experimental warming

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kravchenko, I.; Ksenofontova, N.; Semenov, V.; Kuznetsova, T.; Pinchuk, I.; Li, H.; Semenov, M. Effects of Laboratory Warming on Active Soil Organic Matter and Bacterial Diversity During the Long-Term Decomposition of Forest Litter in Soil Microcosms. Forests 2025, 16, 1784. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121784

AMA Style

Kravchenko I, Ksenofontova N, Semenov V, Kuznetsova T, Pinchuk I, Li H, Semenov M. Effects of Laboratory Warming on Active Soil Organic Matter and Bacterial Diversity During the Long-Term Decomposition of Forest Litter in Soil Microcosms. Forests. 2025; 16(12):1784. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121784

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kravchenko, Irina, Natalia Ksenofontova, Vyacheslav Semenov, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Irina Pinchuk, Hui Li, and Mikhail Semenov. 2025. "Effects of Laboratory Warming on Active Soil Organic Matter and Bacterial Diversity During the Long-Term Decomposition of Forest Litter in Soil Microcosms" Forests 16, no. 12: 1784. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121784

APA Style

Kravchenko, I., Ksenofontova, N., Semenov, V., Kuznetsova, T., Pinchuk, I., Li, H., & Semenov, M. (2025). Effects of Laboratory Warming on Active Soil Organic Matter and Bacterial Diversity During the Long-Term Decomposition of Forest Litter in Soil Microcosms. Forests, 16(12), 1784. https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121784

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