Deforestation and Cultivation with Maize (Zea mays L.) has a Profound Effect on the Bacterial Community Structure in Soil

Abstract

In this study, the effect of deforestation and cultivation of maize (Zea mays L.) on the physicochemical characteristics and the bacterial community structure in soil were studied at the national park Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna Nevado de Toluca in Mexico. Soil was sampled from three forested areas in the national park, from three deforested areas grazed by animals and from three areas cultivated with maize. The soil was characterized chemically and biologically, whilst the bacterial community structure was investigated through 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The pH in the forest soil decreased from 6·1 to 5·3 in the maize-cultivated soil, whilst the soil organic C content decreased 1·4 times in the arable soil compared with the forest soil. The microbial biomass C decreased 2·9 times in the arable soil compared with the forest soil, but the metabolic quotient qCO 2 (ratio basal respiration to microbial biomass C) nearly doubled. Deforestation and maize cultivation reduced the abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes, whereas Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes and Firmicutes were resistant to these changes. It was found that soil characteristics were affected negatively by deforestation and nearly half of the organic matter was lost, and on these sloped fields, erosion will be high, further decreasing soil fertility. Although the relative abundance of a number of bacterial groups was reduced by deforestation, others were not affected by land-use change.key words: bacterial community structure; metabolic quotient qCO 2 ; microbial biomass C and N; soil organic matter; resistance of the bacterial community to land-use change

Elevated Air Humidity Changes Soil Bacterial Community Structure in the Silver Birch Stand

“…Several authors have reported on the significant effect of land use changes on bacterial community structure (Francioli et al, 2014; Quiza et al, 2014; Gómez-Acata et al, 2014), accompanied by the shifts in its functional properties: carbon turnover (Kirschbaum et al, 2013; Quiza et al, 2014) and nitrogen cycling (Kirschbaum et al, 2013; Francioli et al, 2014; Mirza et al, 2014). Our results indicate that the change in leaf litter quality, due to the birch canopy expansion, and concordant understory leaf mass decrease during birch stand development, significantly affected denitrifying bacterial community composition and its potential to emit N 2 O into the environment in both soil fractions.…”

Satellite Thermography for Soil Salinity Assessment of Cropped Areas in Uzbekistan

“…Soil salinization is a major driver of land degradation, which usually goes hand in hand with accelerated soil erosion rates, agricultural mismanagement, overgrazing, mining, and deforestation (Novara et al, 2015;Seutloali & Beckedahl, 2015;Gómez-Acata et al, 2016). Salinization of soils is a consequence of both natural processes and human interference (Oo et al, 2015;Young et al, 2015;Hack-ten Broeke et al, 2016;Panagea et al, 2016).…”

Soil microbial diversity drops with land‐use change in a high mountain temperate forest: a metagenomics survey

“…+52 24 6465 2700. disturbances. High-mountain forests of MTZ have been converted to arable land causing a drop in organic C stocks, altering soil properties and soil microbial communities (Bravo-Espinosa et al, 2014;Gómez-Acata et al, 2016;Fusaro et al, 2019).…”