Forest soil viruses may reduce temperature sensitivity of microbial respiration, affecting carbon cycle projections

New research from Fudan University shows that lysogenic viruses in forest soils may reduce how strongly microbial respiration responds to warming. The study, published in Plant and Soil, used soil samples from 13 forest sites across a 3,600 km gradient in China and measured respiration at 15, 25, and 35 degrees Celsius. Treating soils with mitomycin C to trigger viral activity raised the temperature sensitivity, while the viral-linked signal itself showed lower sensitivity, especially in warmer soils. These findings suggest that soil viruses could play a role in moderating carbon release from forests as temperatures rise. However, the evidence is associative and based on a chemical proxy, so it is not yet ready for direct use in climate models. The authors call for more work combining viral induction experiments with viromics and microbial trait analysis to confirm the mechanism.