Microbial Functional Diversity Associated with Plant Litter Decomposition Along a Climatic Gradient

Sherman, Chen; Steinberger, Yosef

doi:10.1007/s00248-012-0037-7

Cited by 26 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Because H ′ is a measure of the ability of the whole soil microbial community to respire a range of substrates one might expect high H ′ to result in elevated reference respiration ( R ref ), opposite of our finding that high H ′ correlated with reduced R ref . The observed pattern may be related to seasonal differences in the bioavailability of substrates in soils (e.g., Sherman and Steinberger ), or reflect a change in microbial community composition. H ′ was positively correlated with soil microbial biomass, which tended to decrease from winter to spring and summer, suggesting a wider range of substrates present in cold than warm soils.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shallow snowpack inhibits soil respiration in sagebrush steppe through multiple biotic and abiotic mechanisms

et al. 2016

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In sagebrush steppe, snowpack may govern soil respiration through its effect on multiple abiotic and biotic factors. Across the Intermountain West of the United States, snowpack has been declining for decades and is projected to decline further over the next century, making the response of soil respiration to snowpack a potentially important factor in the ecosystem carbon cycle. In this study, we evaluated the direct and indirect roles of the snowpack in driving soil respiration in sagebrush steppe ecosystems by taking advantage of highway snowfences in Wyoming to manipulate snowpack. An important contribution of this study is the use of Bayesian modeling to quantify the effects of soil moisture and temperature on soil respiration across a wide range of conditions from frozen to hot and dry, while simultaneously accounting for biotic factors (e.g., vegetation cover, root density, and microbial biomass and substrate‐use diversity) affected by snowpack. Elevated snow depth increased soil temperature (in the winter) and moisture (winter and spring), and was associated with reduced vegetation cover and microbial biomass carbon. Soil respiration showed an exponential increase with temperature, with a temperature sensitivity that decreased with increasing seasonal temperature (Q10 = 4.3 [winter], 2.3 [spring], and 1.7 [summer]); frozen soils were associated with unrealistic Q10 ≈ 7989 due to the liquid‐to‐ice transition of soil water. Soil respiration was sensitive to soil water content; predicted respiration under very dry conditions was less than 10% of respiration under moist conditions. While higher vegetation cover increased soil respiration, this was not due to increased root density, and may reflect differences in litter inputs. Microbial substrate‐use diversity was negatively related to reference respiration (i.e., respiration rate at a reference temperature and optimal soil moisture), although the mechanism remains unclear. This study indicates that soil respiration is inhibited by shallow snowpack through multiple mechanisms; thus, future decreases in snowpack across the sagebrush steppe have the potential to reduce losses of soil C, potentially affecting regional carbon balance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shallow snowpack inhibits soil respiration in sagebrush steppe through multiple biotic and abiotic mechanisms

et al. 2016

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“…Soil microbial functional diversity is an important measure of sustainable land use and is sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and environmental changes (Zhong et al 2010;Chaerun et al 2011;Sherman and Steinberger 2012). Community-level substrate utilization analysis using Biolog Microplates has proven advantageous for assessing the functional diversity of microbial communities in response to different environmental disturbances (De Paula et al 2010;Chaerun et al 2011;Delgado-Baquerizo et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in soil microbial functional diversity and biochemical characteristics of tree peony with amendment of sewage sludge compost

Huang

Dong

Liu

2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of sewage sludge compost application on functional diversity of soil microbial communities, based on carbon source utilization, and biochemical characteristics of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa). Functional diversity was estimated with incubations in Biolog EcoPlates and well color development was used as the functional trait for carbon source utilization. The average well color development and Shannon index based on the carbon source utilization pattern in Biolog EcoPlates significantly increased with the increasing sludge compost application in the range of 0-45%, with a decreasing trend above 45%. Principal component analysis of carbon source utilization pattern showed that sludge compost application stimulated the utilization rate of D-cellobiose and α-D-lactose, while the utilization rate of β-methyl-D-glucoside, L-asparagine, L-serine, α-cyclodextrin, γ-hydroxybutyric acid, and itaconic acid gradually increased up to a sludge compost amendment dosage of 45% and then decreased above 45%. The chlorophyll content, antioxidase (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidase) activities, plant height, flower diameter, and flower numbers per plant of tree peony increased significantly with sludge compost dosage, reaching a peak value at 45 %, and then decreased with the exception that activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase did not vary significantly.

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“…The functional diversity of soil microbial communities is regulated by physico-chemical soil properties (Gartzia-Bengoetxea et al, 2016), climate (Cao et al, 2016), and the composition of plant cover (Sherman and Steinberger, 2012). For example, the geographic patterns of soil microbial activity reflect the climate, soil pH, and total phosphorus concentrations over large spatial scales (Cao Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2018-499 Manuscript under review for journal Biogeosciences Discussion started: 24 January 2019 c Author(s) 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant functional traits determined the latitudinal variations in soil microbial functions: evidence from a forest transect in China

Zhang

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Plant functional traits have increasingly been studied as determinants of ecosystem properties, especially for soil biogeochemical processes. While the relationships between biological community structures and ecological functions are a central issue in ecological theory, these relationships remain poorly understood at the large scale. We selected nine forests along the North&#8211;South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) to determine how plant functional traits influence the latitudinal pattern of soil microbial functions, and how soil microbial communities and functions are linked at the regional scale. We found that there was considerable variation in the profiles of different substrate use along the NSTEC. Soil microorganisms from temperate forests mainly metabolized high-energy substrates, while those from subtropical forests used all the substrates equally. The soil silt content and plant functional traits together shaped the biogeographical pattern of the soil microbial substrate use. Soil organic matter decomposition rates were significantly higher in temperate forests than in subtropical and tropical forests, which was consistent with the pattern of soil microbial biomass carbon concentrations. Soil organic matter decomposition rates were also significantly and negatively related to soil dissolved organic carbon concentrations, and carboxylic acid, polymer, and miscellaneous substrates. The soil microbial community structures and functions were significantly correlated along the NSTEC. Soil carbohydrate and polymer substrate use were mainly related to soil G+ bacterial and actinomycetes biomass, while the use of amine and miscellaneous substrates were related to soil G&#8722; bacteria, fungal biomass, and the F/B ratio. The contributions of different groups of microbial biomass to the production of soil enzyme activities differed. The relationship between soil microbial community structure and functions supported that there was functional dissimilarity.

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Microbial Functional Diversity Associated with Plant Litter Decomposition Along a Climatic Gradient

Cited by 26 publications

References 63 publications

Shallow snowpack inhibits soil respiration in sagebrush steppe through multiple biotic and abiotic mechanisms

Shallow snowpack inhibits soil respiration in sagebrush steppe through multiple biotic and abiotic mechanisms

Changes in soil microbial functional diversity and biochemical characteristics of tree peony with amendment of sewage sludge compost

Plant functional traits determined the latitudinal variations in soil microbial functions: evidence from a forest transect in China

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