Effects of Moss-Dominated Biocrusts on Soil Microbial Community Structure in an Ionic Rare Earth Tailings Area of Southern China

Abstract

Moss-dominated biocrusts are widespread in degraded mining ecosystems and play an important role in soil development and ecosystem primary succession. In this work, the soil microbial community structure under moss-dominated biocrusts in ionic rare earth tailings was investigated to reveal the relationship between different types of moss and taxonomy/function of microbiomes. The results showed that microbial community structure was significantly influenced by four moss species (Claopodium rugulosifolium, Orthotrichum courtoisii, Polytrichum formosum, and Taxiphyllum giraldii). The microbial assembly was more prominent in Claopodium rugulosifolium soil than in the other moss soils, which covers 482 bacterial genera (including 130 specific genera) and 338 fungal genera (including 72 specific genera), and the specific genus is 40% to 1300% higher than that of the other three mosses. Although only 141 and 140 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) rooted in bacterial and fungal clusters, respectively, were shared by all four mosses grown in ionic rare earth tailings, this core microbiome could represent a large fraction (28.2% and 38.7%, respectively) of all sequence reads. The bacterial population and representation are the most abundant, which mainly includes Sphingomonas, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, and unclassified filamentous bacteria and chloroplasts, while the fungi population is relatively singular. The results also show that biocrust dominated by moss has a positive effect on soil microbe activity and soil nutrient conditions. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of developing moss-dominated biocrusts as hotspots of ecosystem functioning and precious microbial genetic resources in degraded rare-earth mining areas and promoting a better understanding of biocrust ecology in humid climates under global change scenarios.

Review on the Impact of Iron Tailings on the Environment and Its Prevention and Control Strategies

“…Soil erosion refers to the process in which soil or rock materials are worn, denuded, or dissolved, and detached from the surface under the action of wind and water [24]. During the mining of mineral resources, activities such as stripping, clearing the ground, and transporting soil, stone, and slag deposits over large areas can intensify the process of soil erosion.…”

Effects of Microtopography on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Abundance in Permafrost Peatlands

“…The purity of the resulting DNA was evaluated using a SmartSpec Plus spectrophotometer (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA, USA). PCR was used to amplify the bacterial 16S rRNA gene with the primer pair 338F/806R and the ITS region of the fungal gene with the primer pair ITS1F/ITS2R [35,36]. Thermocyling began with a 5 min denaturation at 95 • C, followed by 27 cycles for bacteria and 35 cycles for fungi.…”