Warming-induced unstable microbial community metabolically lowers straw-carbon sequestration in paddy soils.

Summary: Climate change is making our planet hotter, and this is a big problem for the soil where we grow rice (called paddy soils). Farmers often add leftover plant stalks, called straw, to the soil to help keep healthy carbon in the ground. But researchers found that when the soil gets too warm, the tiny bugs (microbes) living in it get stressed and die off. Because there are fewer of these helpful bugs, their communities break down, and they lose the ability to digest the straw properly. This means the soil loses its healthy carbon instead of saving it. In short, a hotter climate makes it much harder for rice farms to trap carbon and stay healthy.