Soil microbial populations in deep floodplain soils are adapted to infrequent but regular carbon substrate addition

This is the final version of the article. Available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Floodplain soils provide an important link in the land-ocean aquatic continuum. Understanding microbial activity in these soils, which can be many metres deep, is a key component in our understanding of the role of floodplains in the carbon (C) cycle. We sampled the mineral soil profile to 3 m depth from two floodplain sites under long-term pasture adjacent to the river Culm in SW England, UK. Soil chemistry (C, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), soil microbial biomass (SMB), moisture content) and soil solution (pH, dissolved organic C (DOC) and N, nitrate, ammonium, water extractable P) were analysed over the 3 m depth in 6 increments: 0.0–0.2, 0.2–0.7, 1.0–1.5, 1.5–2.0, 2.0–2.5, and 2.5–3.0 m. 14 C-glucose was added to the soil and the evolution of 14 CO 2 measured during a 29 d incubation. From soil properties and 14 C-glucose mineralisation, three depth groups emerged, with distinct turnover times extrapolated from initial k 1 mineralisation rate constants of 2 h (topsoil 0.0–0.2 m), 4 h (subsoil 0.2–0.7 m), and 11 h (deep subsoil 1.0–3.0 m). However, when normalised by SMB, k 1 rate constants had no significant differences across all depths. Deep subsoil had a 2 h lag to reach maximal 14 CO 2 production whereas the topsoil and subsoil (0.2–0.7 m) achieved maximum mineralisation rates immediately. SMB decreased with depth, but only to half of the surface population, with the proportion of SMB-C to total C increasing from 1% in topsoil to 15% in deep subsoil ( > 1.0 m). The relatively large SMB concentration and rapid mineralisation of 14 C-glucose suggests that DOC turnover in deep soil horizons in floodplains is limited by access to biologically available C and not the size of the microbial population.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC