Priming effects in soil size fractions of a podzol Bs horizon after addition of fructose and alanine

It is well known that the addition of easily available substrates to soils can affect microbial activity and thus the mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC). Up to now, little is known about the processes leading to these priming effects and which fractions of organic matter (OM) are affected. The objectives of this study were to determine if SOC associated with isolated soil size fractions showed different susceptibility to priming effects, whether these pools are easily depleted, or whether the amount of substrate addition affects the extent of priming effects. In an incubation experiment, the effect of the uniformly ¹⁴C‐labeled substrates fructose and alanine on the mineralization of the SOC of a Bs horizon of a Haplic Podzol was investigated. The soil sample was fractionated into the three soil size fractions sand, silt, and clay by a mild sonication followed by sieving and sedimentation. Additionally, nonfractionated soil of the horizon was included in the experiment. Every soil sample received four substrate additions repeated at weekly intervals with 3.325 μg substrate‐C (mg SOC)^–1 and a final addition of 13.3 μg substrate‐C (mg SOC)^–1 after 4 weeks. The respiration was determined hourly and ¹⁴CO₂ was analyzed every 2, 4, and 7 d after the respective substrate addition. After 56 d, between 42% and 58% of the added substrates had been mineralized. Both substrates strongly increased the mineralization of the OM in all fractions (positive priming effects). The priming effects were always higher after the addition of the high substrate dose than during the first 4 weeks when four small doses were added. In general, the priming effects increased with decreasing particle size. Alanine generally caused higher priming effects than fructose in the soil size fractions (up to 280% vs. 231%, respectively). This indicates that alanine serves not only as an energy substrate but also as a N source and, thus, also promotes microbial growth. The strong priming effects in the silt and clay fraction (133% and 125% with fructose, 172% and 168% with alanine) showed, that not only the labile pool of OM is affected, but also a more stable pool characterized by higher ¹⁴C ages. We assume that the stability of the OM in these fractions is not only due to recalcitrance or to interactions with the minerals, but that it may also be caused by a substrate limitation of the degrading microorganisms.