Experimental warming accelerates positive soil priming in a temperate grassland ecosystem

Unravelling biosphere feedback mechanisms is crucial for predicting the impacts of global warming. Soil priming, an effect of fresh plant-derived carbon (C) on native soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition, is a key feedback mechanism that could release large amounts of soil C into the atmosphere. However, the impacts of climate warming on soil priming remain elusive. Here, we show that experimental warming accelerates soil priming by 12.7% in a temperate grassland. Warming alters bacterial communities, with 38% of unique active phylotypes detected under warming. The functional genes essential for soil C decomposition are also stimulated, which could be linked to priming effects. We incorporate lab-derived information into an ecosystem model showing that model parameter uncertainty can be reduced by 32–37%. Model simulations from 2010 to 2016 indicate an increase in soil C decomposition under warming, with a 9.1% rise in priming-induced CO2 emissions. If our findings can be generalized to other ecosystems over an extended period of time, soil priming could play an important role in terrestrial C cycle feedbacks and climate change.