ABSTRACT
Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) refers to the C transformation to microbial biomass from C uptake. The study of soil microbial CUE is very important for understanding the soil C cycle. Here, CUE, Cgrowth, and Crespiration were measured using the 18O-H2O-DNA labeling method at six elevational sites (980-1765 m) in Daiyun Mountain, a subtropical montane forest, to understand the variation characteristics and influencing mechanisms. The results showed that:CUE varied from 0.1 to 0.4 and increased linearly with elevation; CUE was positively correlated with Cgrowth, Crespiration, and qgrowth but negatively correlated with qCO2, indicating that CUE increased with elevation by increasing microbial growth and inhibiting respiration; and temperature was the first controlling factor for the elevation variation in microbial CUE in the subtropical forest ecosystem.
