Tipping points in bacterial richness amplify extracellular enzyme activities in Northern Peatlands
Abstract
Bacterial communities are vital to northern peatlands' carbon and nutrient cycling, one of the Earth's largest terrestrial carbon stores. However, their diversity and ecological roles at broad geographic scales remain partially understood, limiting our ability to predict their response to global change. Here, we combine a trans‐Holarctic survey across 171 Sphagnum ‐dominated peatlands (SDPs) with a continental‐scale reciprocal transplantation experiment to quantify how bacterial diversity shapes carbon and nutrient cycling across bioclimatic gradients. We show that bacterial diversity and composition differ markedly among peatland bioclimatic regions and are primarily structured by the universal abiotic drivers of northern ecosystems: minimum temperature, snow cover, and soil water content. Ecological models further revealed that deterministic processes accounted for approximately 80% of bacterial community assembly, highlighting the strong influence of environmental filtering. Biodiversity‐Ecosystem Function analyses identified bacterial richness as a key driver of carbon and nutrient cycling. Using moving‐window structural equation models, we identified a critical bacterial richness threshold, below which extracellular enzyme activities increased by ~60%. This transition coincided with stronger environmental filtering and shifts towards bacterial communities with a greater predicted potential for extracellular nutrient acquisition and heterotrophic metabolism. Together, these findings demonstrate that bacterial richness underpins peatland biogeochemical functioning and suggest that biodiversity loss may accelerate carbon turnover, weakening the capacity of northern peatlands to retain carbon. As climate change threatens this unique microbiome, safeguarding bacterial diversity will be critical for maintaining ecosystem resilience and the stability of this globally important carbon sink.
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BibTeX
@article{jassey2026tipping,
title = {{Tipping points in bacterial richness amplify extracellular enzyme activities in Northern Peatlands}},
author = {Vincent E J Jassey and Tristan Lafont Rapnouil and Marie Le Geay and Romain Walcker and Laure Gandois and Maialen Barret and Nicolas Fanin and Bjorn J M Robroek and Béatrice Lauga and Luke O Andrews and Alix Badré Greuza and Mark R Bakker and Guillaume Bertrand and Tobias Birkwald and Paulo a V Borges and Brian Branfireun and Francis Q Brearley and Cécile Brousseau and Zhao‐jun Bu and Jean‐françois Carrias and Sarah Coffinet and Bruno Corbarra and Eduardo M F Dias and Ellen Dorrepaal and André‐jean Francez and Yuwen Fu and Marvin Gabriel and Rosalina Gabriel and Stéphanie Gerin and Daniel Gilbert and Sébastien Gogo and Gustaf Granath and Emma Gray and Liam Heffernan and Thierry J Heger and Sari Juutinen and Paul Kardol and Edgar Karofeld and Agata Klimkowska and Martin Küttim and Liisa Küttim and Olivia Kuuri‐riutta and Terri Lacourse and Mariusz Lamentowicz and Gaël Le Roux and Zoë Lindo and Roy Mackenzie and Katarzyna Marcisz and Yuri A Mazei and Natalia G Mazei and Cândida M F Mendes and Edward a D Mitchell and Juanita Mora-Gomez and Raphael Müller and Kathy Pouliot and Anna‐helena Purre and Achim Quaiser and Brenda Riquelme‐del Río and Allison R Rober and Line Rochefort},
journal = {Global Change Biology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1111/gcb.71099},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05755233v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tipping points in bacterial richness amplify extracellular enzyme activities in Northern Peatlands
AU - Vincent E J Jassey
AU - Tristan Lafont Rapnouil
AU - Marie Le Geay
AU - Romain Walcker
AU - Laure Gandois
AU - Maialen Barret
AU - Nicolas Fanin
AU - Bjorn J M Robroek
AU - Béatrice Lauga
AU - Luke O Andrews
AU - Alix Badré Greuza
AU - Mark R Bakker
AU - Guillaume Bertrand
AU - Tobias Birkwald
AU - Paulo a V Borges
AU - Brian Branfireun
AU - Francis Q Brearley
AU - Cécile Brousseau
AU - Zhao‐jun Bu
AU - Jean‐françois Carrias
AU - Sarah Coffinet
AU - Bruno Corbarra
AU - Eduardo M F Dias
AU - Ellen Dorrepaal
AU - André‐jean Francez
AU - Yuwen Fu
AU - Marvin Gabriel
AU - Rosalina Gabriel
AU - Stéphanie Gerin
AU - Daniel Gilbert
AU - Sébastien Gogo
AU - Gustaf Granath
AU - Emma Gray
AU - Liam Heffernan
AU - Thierry J Heger
AU - Sari Juutinen
AU - Paul Kardol
AU - Edgar Karofeld
AU - Agata Klimkowska
AU - Martin Küttim
AU - Liisa Küttim
AU - Olivia Kuuri‐riutta
AU - Terri Lacourse
AU - Mariusz Lamentowicz
AU - Gaël Le Roux
AU - Zoë Lindo
AU - Roy Mackenzie
AU - Katarzyna Marcisz
AU - Yuri A Mazei
AU - Natalia G Mazei
AU - Cândida M F Mendes
AU - Edward a D Mitchell
AU - Juanita Mora-Gomez
AU - Raphael Müller
AU - Kathy Pouliot
AU - Anna‐helena Purre
AU - Achim Quaiser
AU - Brenda Riquelme‐del Río
AU - Allison R Rober
AU - Line Rochefort
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/17
JO - Global Change Biology
DO - 10.1111/gcb.71099
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05755233v1
AB - Bacterial communities are vital to northern peatlands' carbon and nutrient cycling, one of the Earth's largest terrestrial carbon stores. However, their diversity and ecological roles at broad geographic scales remain partially understood, limiting our ability to predict their response to global change. Here, we combine a trans‐Holarctic survey across 171 Sphagnum ‐dominated peatlands (SDPs) with a continental‐scale reciprocal transplantation experiment to quantify how bacterial diversity shapes carbon and nutrient cycling across bioclimatic gradients. We show that bacterial diversity and composition differ markedly among peatland bioclimatic regions and are primarily structured by the universal abiotic drivers of northern ecosystems: minimum temperature, snow cover, and soil water content. Ecological models further revealed that deterministic processes accounted for approximately 80% of bacterial community assembly, highlighting the strong influence of environmental filtering. Biodiversity‐Ecosystem Function analyses identified bacterial richness as a key driver of carbon and nutrient cycling. Using moving‐window structural equation models, we identified a critical bacterial richness threshold, below which extracellular enzyme activities increased by ~60%. This transition coincided with stronger environmental filtering and shifts towards bacterial communities with a greater predicted potential for extracellular nutrient acquisition and heterotrophic metabolism. Together, these findings demonstrate that bacterial richness underpins peatland biogeochemical functioning and suggest that biodiversity loss may accelerate carbon turnover, weakening the capacity of northern peatlands to retain carbon. As climate change threatens this unique microbiome, safeguarding bacterial diversity will be critical for maintaining ecosystem resilience and the stability of this globally important carbon sink.
SN - 1354-1013
SN - 1365-2486
ER -