Linking plant litter microbial diversity to microhabitat conditions, environmental gradients and litter mass loss: Insights from a European study using standard litter bags

Pioli, Silvia; Sarneel, Judith M.; Thomas, Haydn J. D.; Domene, Xavier; Andrés, Pilar; Hefting, Mariet M.; Reitz, Thomas; Laudon, Hjalmar; Sandén, Taru; Piscová, Veronika; Aurela, Mika; Brusetti, Lorenzo

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107778

Cited by 28 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…type had only little effect, explaining only 3 and 5% of the variance, respectively. This is in contrast to the recent findings of (Pioli et al, 2020), in which a large effect of soil type on the community composition was reported, though not surprising considering that this study was performed on a very local scale. 280…”

Section: Selective Colonisation Of Tea Bags By Prokaryotic and Fungal Soil Populationscontrasting

confidence: 99%

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Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

Daebeler

Petrová

Kinz³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Including information about soil microbial communities into global decomposition models is critical for predicting and understanding how ecosystem functions may shift in response to global change. Here we combined a standardised litter bag method for estimating decomposition rates, Tea Bag Index (TBI), with high-throughput sequencing of the microbial communities colonising the plant litter in the bags. Together with students of the Federal College for Viticulture and Fruit Growing, Klosterneuburg, Austria, acting as citizen scientists, we used this approach to investigate the diversity of prokaryotes and fungi colonising recalcitrant (rooibos) and labile (green tea) plant litter buried in three different soil types and during four seasons with the aim of (i) comparing litter decomposition [decomposition rates (k) and stabilisation factors (S)] between soil types and seasons, (ii) comparing the microbial communities colonising labile and recalcitrant plant litter between soil types and seasons (iii) correlating microbial diversity and taxa relative abundance patterns of colonisers with litter decomposition rates (k)and stabilisation factors (S). Stabilisation factor (S), but not decomposition rate (k), correlated with the season and was significantly lower in the summer. This finding highlights the necessity to include colder seasons in the efforts of determining decomposition dynamics in order to quantify nutrient cycling in soils accurately. With our approach, we further showed selective colonisation of plant litter by fungal and prokaryotic taxa sourced from the soil. The community structures of these microbial colonisers differed most profoundly between summer and winter, and rooibos litter was generally a stronger selector than green tea litter. Moreover, this study indicates an equal, if not higher, importance of fungal versus prokaryotic degraders for recalcitrant and labile plant litter decomposition. Our results collectively demonstrate the importance of analysing decomposition dynamics over multiple seasons and isolating the effect of the active component of the microbial community.

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Section: Selective Colonisation Of Tea Bags By Prokaryotic and Fungal Soil Populationscontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the role of bacteria in the decomposition of more recalcitrant 65 material is still debated (Wilhelm et al, 2018). However, still little is known on how microbial communities specialise in litter types with different physical and chemical traits (Freschet et al, 2011;Pioli et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introduction 45mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

Daebeler

Petrová

Kinz³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…We focused on characterizing the bacterial community response since the incubation time of the tea bag decomposition experiment was relatively short (111 d). The soil bacterial response was expected to be greater during the initial phases of decomposition compared to fungal response as evidenced in a recent study (Pioli et al 2020). Therefore, we characterized bacterial community composition (using targeted amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene) of the bulk soil and the litterassociated bacteria of two differing litter types occurring in wetland soils exposed to fertilization or not.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Distinct microbial communities alter litter decomposition rates in a fertilized coastal plain wetland

Koceja¹,

Bledsoe²,

Goodwillie³

et al. 2021

Ecosphere

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Human activities have led to increased deposition of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) into soils. Nutrient enrichment of soils is known to increase plant biomass and rates of microbial litter decomposition. However, interacting effects of hydrologic position and associated changes to soil moisture can constrain microbial activity and lead to unexpected nutrient feedbacks on microbial community structurefunction relationships. Examining feedbacks of nutrient enrichment on decomposition rates is essential for predicting microbial contributions to carbon (C) cycling as atmospheric deposition of nutrients persists. This study explored how long-term nutrient addition and contrasting litter chemical composition influenced soil bacterial community structure and function. We hypothesized that long-term nutrient enrichment of low fertility soils alters bacterial community structure and leads to higher rates of litter decomposition especially for low C:N litter, but low-nutrient and dry conditions limit microbial decomposition of high C:N ratio litter. We leveraged a long-term fertilization experiment to test how nutrient enrichment and hydrologic manipulation (due to ditches) affected decomposition and soil bacterial community structure in a nutrient-poor coastal plain wetland. We conducted a litter bag experiment and characterized litter-associated and bulk soil microbiomes using 16S rRNA bacterial sequencing and quantified litter mass losses and soil physicochemical properties. Results revealed that distinct bacterial communities were involved in decomposing higher C:N ratio litter more quickly in fertilized compared to unfertilized soils especially under drier soil conditions, while decomposition rates of lower C:N ratio litter were similar between fertilized and unfertilized plots. Bacterial community structure in part explained litter decomposition rates, and long-term fertilization and drier hydrologic status affected bacterial diversity and increased decomposition rates. However, community composition associated with high C:N litter was similar in wetter plots with available nitrate detected, regardless of fertilization treatment. This study provides insight into long-term fertilization effects on soil bacterial diversity and composition, decomposition, and the increased potential for soil C loss as nutrient enrichment and hydrology interact to affect historically lownutrient ecosystems.

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“…Therefore, the role of bacteria in the decomposition of more recalcitrant material is still debated (Wilhelm et al, 2019). However, still little is known on how microbial communities specialise in litter types with different physical and chemical traits (Freschet et al, 2011;Pioli et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

Daebeler

Petrová

Kinz³

et al. 2022

SOIL

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Abstract. Including information about soil microbial communities into global decomposition models is critical for predicting and understanding how ecosystem functions may shift in response to global change. Here we combined a standardised litter bag method for estimating decomposition rates, the Tea Bag Index (TBI), with high-throughput sequencing of the microbial communities colonising the plant litter in the bags. Together with students of the Federal College for Viticulture and Fruit Growing, Klosterneuburg, Austria, acting as citizen scientists, we used this approach to investigate the diversity of prokaryotes and fungi-colonising recalcitrant (rooibos) and labile (green tea) plant litter buried in three different soil types and during four seasons with the aim of (i) comparing litter decomposition (decomposition rates (k) and stabilisation factors (S)) between soil types and seasons, (ii) comparing the microbial communities colonising labile and recalcitrant plant litter between soil types and seasons, and (iii) correlating microbial diversity and taxa relative abundance patterns of colonisers with litter decomposition rates (k) and stabilisation factors (S). Stabilisation factor (S), but not decomposition rate (k), correlated with the season and was significantly lower in the summer, indicating a decomposition of a larger fraction of the organic material during the warm months. This finding highlights the necessity to include colder seasons in the efforts of determining decomposition dynamics in order to quantify nutrient cycling in soils accurately. With our approach, we further showed selective colonisation of plant litter by fungal and prokaryotic taxa sourced from the soil. The community structures of these microbial colonisers differed most profoundly between summer and winter, and selective enrichment of microbial orders on either rooibos or green tea hinted at indicator taxa specialised for the primary degradation of recalcitrant or labile organic matter, respectively. Our results collectively demonstrate the importance of analysing decomposition dynamics over multiple seasons and further testify to the potential of the microbiome-resolved TBI to identify the active component of the microbial community associated with litter decomposition. This work demonstrates the power of the microbiome-resolved TBI to give a holistic description of the litter decomposition process in soils.

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Linking plant litter microbial diversity to microhabitat conditions, environmental gradients and litter mass loss: Insights from a European study using standard litter bags

Cited by 28 publications

References 63 publications

Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

Distinct microbial communities alter litter decomposition rates in a fertilized coastal plain wetland

Pairing litter decomposition with microbial community structures using the Tea Bag Index (TBI)

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