Abstract
The soil microbiome is a driver of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) emissions in terrestrial ecosystems. Identifying the core microbiome of N(2)O emissions and its temperature sensitivity from trillions of soil microorganisms is a great challenge and is essential to improving the predictability of soil-climate feedback related to increasing temperature. Here, the integrated soil microbiome covering archaeal, bacterial, fungal, algal, and microfaunal communities was studied to disengage the potential linkage with its N(2)O emissions and its temperature sensitivity in paddy fields by hunting for core species pairs. The results showed that between-group interactions of core bacterial and archaeal members and the within-group interactions of core bacterial members jointly contributed to the N(2)O emissions and its temperature sensitivity. The contribution of between-group interactions (32 to 33%) was greater than that of within groups (10 to 18%). These results suggested that N(2)O emissions and their fluctuations related to climate warming are affected by the within- and between-group interactions of the soil microbiome. Our results help advance the knowledge on the importance of microbial keystone species and network associations in controlling N(2)O production and their responses to increasing temperature. IMPORTANCE Soil microorganisms drive emissions of nitrous oxide from soils; this is a powerful greenhouse gas and the dominant ozone-depleting agent. N(2)O emissions can be partly predicted from soil properties and specific microbial groups, whereas a possible role of below-ground microbial interactions has largely been overlooked. Here, the integrated soil microbiome covering archaeal, bacterial, fungal, algal, and microfaunal communities was studied to disengage the potential linkage with the N(2)O emissions and temperature sensitivity of the microbiome in paddy fields by hunting for core species pairs. The results showed that between-group interactions of core bacterial and archaeal members and the within-group interactions of core bacterial members jointly contributed to the N(2)O emissions. The contribution of between-group interactions (32 to 33%) was greater than that of within-group interactions (10 to 18%). Our results help advance the knowledge on the importance of microbial keystone species and interactions in controlling N(2)O production and their responses to increasing temperature.