Mangrove succession enriches the sediment microbial community in South China

Abstract

Sediment microorganisms help create and maintain mangrove ecosystems. Although the changes in vegetation during mangrove forest succession have been well studied, the changes in the sediment microbial community during mangrove succession are poorly understood. To investigate the changes in the sediment microbial community during succession of mangroves at Zhanjiang, South China, we used phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and the following chronosequence from primary to climax community: unvegetated shoal; Avicennia marina community; Aegiceras corniculatum community; and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza + Rhizophora stylosa community. The PLFA concentrations of all sediment microbial groups (total microorganisms, fungi, gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, and actinomycetes) increased significantly with each stage of mangrove succession. Microbial PLFA concentrations in the sediment were significantly lower in the wet season than in the dry season. Regression and ordination analyses indicated that the changes in the microbial community with mangrove succession were mainly associated with properties of the aboveground vegetation (mainly plant height) and the sediment (mainly sediment organic matter and total nitrogen). The changes in the sediment microbial community can probably be explained by increases in nutrients and microhabitat heterogeneity during mangrove succession.

Diverse Profiles of AI-1 Type Quorum Sensing Molecules in Cultivable Bacteria from the Mangrove (Kandelia obovata) Rhizosphere Environment

“…The observation was consistent with previous reports (Andreote et al, 2012; Hong et al, 2015; Zhang et al, 2015). Among the Proteobacteria, Gamma-proteobacteria, Delta-proteobacteria, and Alpha-proteobacteria were the three most abundant classes in our sampling sites ( Supplementary Figure S1B ), in agreement with previous findings in Aegiceras corniculatum , Avicennia marina , and Sonneratia caseolaris (Yang et al, 2014; Alzubaidy et al, 2016; Chen et al, 2016). These results suggest that Alpha-, Gamma-, and Epsilon-proteobacteria are prevalent in mangrove plants.…”

Changes in the benthic protozoan community during succession of a mangrove ecosystem in Zhanjiang, China

“…Fig. Consistent with the current results, the abundance of macrobenthic fauna was found to decline and that of sediment microorganisms was found to increase during the same mangrove succession at Zhanjiang, South China (Chen et al 2015(Chen et al , 2016. Biplot generated by canonical redundancy analysis (RDA) illustrating the relationships between environmental factors (vegetation characteristics and sediment physicochemical properties) and the benthic protozoan community at the five sampling sites representing a mangrove succession at Zhanjiang, China.…”

“…Regression analysis and canonical redundancy analysis (RDA) were calculated to investigate the relationships between environmental factors (vegetation characteristics and sediment physiochemical properties of mangrove communities; these data were obtained from Chen et al (2015Chen et al ( , 2016) and the benthic protozoan communities at the different sites and in different seasons. Two-way ANOVAs were used to assess the effect of the site 9 season interaction on the structures of protozoan communities.…”

“…The raw data for vegetation characteristics and sediment physiochemical properties were obtained from Chen et al (2015Chen et al ( , 2016. The raw data for vegetation characteristics and sediment physiochemical properties were obtained from Chen et al (2015Chen et al ( , 2016. 3.…”

“…Thus, these components of the mangrove benthos have been extensively studied (Kathiresan and Bingham 2001). Moreover, Chen et al (2015Chen et al ( , 2016 have already investigated the dynamics of macrobenthic fauna and sediment microorganism during a mangrove succession at Zhanjiang, China. However, benthic protozoa have rarely been studied in mangroves (Liao et al 2009, Li et al 2010) and have never been studied with respect to mangrove succession.…”