Phosphorus Addition Reshapes Soil Bacterial Networks in Pine Plantations, Affecting Carbon Cycling

A new study in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change examined how phosphorus fertilization alters soil bacterial communities in subtropical pine plantations. Researchers tracked genes involved in phosphorus cycling (gcd, phoD, phoR) using metagenomic sequencing. After one year, phosphorus addition did not change overall gene abundance or diversity, but it did boost specific bacterial genera like Terracidiphilus, which correlated with enhanced carbon metabolism. The authors suggest this may reflect increased belowground carbon allocation from stimulated plant growth, rather than a direct phosphorus effect. Co-occurrence network analysis showed that phosphorus addition increased network complexity and shifted correlations between bacteria and phosphorus fractions. Available phosphorus and organic phosphorus pools became central nodes, and the proportion of negative correlations rose. The study highlights potential links between phosphorus management and soil carbon dynamics in plantations, though the authors caution that the causal mechanisms need experimental verification. For forest managers, the findings hint that phosphorus fertilization could influence microbial carbon processing, with possible implications for soil carbon storage.