Global patterns and controls of the soil microbial biomass response to elevated CO2

Elevated CO(2 )concentrations (eCO(2)) have been widely observed to stimulate microbial growth. However, the effect of eCO(2) on soil microbial biomass may depend on several factors and their interactions, such as the in-crease in atmospheric CO2 levels, experimental duration and mean annual precipitation (MAP). We conducted a global meta-analysis from 62 studies that included the responses of soil microbial biomass to eCO2. We found a significant positive eCO(2 )effect on the bacterial biomass (+9.1 %), fungi (+11 %), arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (+10.2 %) and actinomycetes (ACT) (+16.4 %). The positive effects were mainly observed in studies with low eCO(2) levels (<= 200 ppm) rather than high levels of eCO(2 )(> 200 ppm), which could be attributable to soil N limitation. It was also found that eCO(2 )had a significant positive effect on soil microbial biomass in the short term (<= 3 y) and under a high MAP (> 800 mm). Importantly, we revealed interactive effects between the eCO(2 )levels, experimental duration on soil microbial biomass. With an increase in eCO2, the total microbial biomass (TMB), bacterial biomass and fungal biomass decreased over the long term (> 3 y). These findings indicate the need to incorporate interactions between eCO(2 )and environmental factors into ecosystem models, to predict future global climate change effects more accurately and their impact on ecosystem functions.