Balance between geographic, soil, and host tree parameters to shape soil microbiomes associated to clonal oak varies across soil zones along a European North–South transect

Abstract

Tree root-associated microbiomes are shaped by geographic, soil physico-chemical, and host tree parameters. However, their respective impacts on microbiome variations in soils across larger spatial scales remain weakly studied. We out-planted saplings of oak clone DF159 (Quercus robur L.) as phytometer in four grassland field sites along a European North-South transect. After four years, we first compared the soil microbiomes of the tree root zone (RZ) and the tree root-free zone (RFZ). Then, we separately considered the total microbiomes of both zones, besides the microbiome with significant affinity to the RZ and compared their variability along the transect. Variations within the microbiome of the tree RFZ were shaped by geographic and soil physicochemical changes, whereby bacteria responded more than fungi. Variations within both microbiomes of the tree RZ depended on the host tree and abiotic parameters. Based on perMANOVA and Mantel correlation tests, impacts of site specificities and geographic distance strongly decreased for the tree RZ affine microbiome. This pattern was more pronounced for fungi than bacteria. Shaping the microbiome of the soil zones in root proximity might be a mechanism mediating the acclimation of oaks to a wide range of environmental conditions across geographic regions.

Characteristics of soil microbial communities in farmland with different comprehensive fertility levels in the Panxi area, Sichuan, China

“…This was mainly due to the fact that the important role of microelements is more obvious due to the imbalance of soil nutrients when the integrated fertility is low, and low soil fertility will further lead to increased plant demand for microelements. This also indicates that in addition to the influence of soil properties on microbial communities, microbial communities themselves also have interactions ( Habiyaremye et al, 2021 ). Co-occurrence network analysis measures the interactions between different microbial taxa by correlation of their abundances across multiple soil samples, and extracts simple patterns from complex interactions to identify cooperative (niche overlap, cooperative exchange or access to resources) or competitive (niche separation, competition for space or resources) relationships between species ( Barberán et al, 2012 ).…”

Functional phenomics for improved climate resilience in Nordic agriculture

“…The determination of bulk soil microbiomes along a 1650 km climatic gradient through the maritime Antarctic revealed that the expected further rises in air temperature in the maritime Antarctic may enhance terrestrial ecosystem productivity through positive effects on soil bacterial diversity ( Dennis et al , 2019 ). With a few exceptions of studies of tree microbiomes ( Bálint et al , 2015 ; Habiyaremye et al , 2021 ), this is notably unexplored under Nordic conditions. The influence of the specific Nordic light conditions should also be explored further as light quality is known to influence plant–microbe interactions ( Alsanius et al , 2019 ).…”