Patterns of Soil Bacterial Richness and Composition Tied to Plant Richness, Soil Nitrogen, and Soil Acidity in Alpine Tundra

Yuan, Xiuliang; Knelman, Joseph E.; Wang, Deli; Goebl, April; Gasarch, Eve; Seastedt, T. R.

doi:10.1657/aaar0016-050

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…For example, Blastocatella OTUs were associated with calcareous soils (higher soil pH) and Candidatus Solibacter OTUs with siliceous soils (lower soil pH). Variation of Acidobacteria abundance along soil pH has also been shown previously (Männistö et al, 2007; Mukherjee et al, 2014; Yuan et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

The Soil Microbiome of GLORIA Mountain Summits in the Swiss Alps

et al. 2019

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While vegetation has intensively been surveyed on mountain summits, limited knowledge exists about the diversity and community structure of soil biota. Here, we study how climatic variables, vegetation, parent material, soil properties, and slope aspect affect the soil microbiome on 10 GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine environments) mountain summits ranging from the lower alpine to the nival zone in Switzerland. At these summits we sampled soils from all four aspects and examined how the bacterial and fungal communities vary by using Illumina MiSeq sequencing. We found that mountain summit soils contain highly diverse microbial communities with a total of 10,406 bacterial and 6,291 fungal taxa. Bacterial α-diversity increased with increasing soil pH and decreased with increasing elevation, whereas fungal α-diversity did not change significantly. Soil pH was the strongest predictor for microbial β-diversity. Bacterial and fungal community structures exhibited a significant positive relationship with plant communities, indicating that summits with a more distinct plant composition also revealed more distinct microbial communities. The influence of elevation was stronger than aspect on the soil microbiome. Several microbial taxa responded to elevation and soil pH. Chloroflexi and Mucoromycota were significantly more abundant on summits at higher elevations, whereas the relative abundance of Basidiomycota and Agaricomycetes decreased with elevation. Most bacterial OTUs belonging to the phylum Acidobacteria were indicators for siliceous parent material and several OTUs belonging to the phylum Planctomycetes were associated with calcareous soils. The trends for fungi were less clear. Indicator OTUs belonging to the genera Mortierella and Naganishia showed a mixed response to parent material, demonstrating their ubiquitous and opportunistic behaviour in soils. Overall, fungal communities responded weakly to abiotic and biotic factors. In contrast, bacterial communities were strongly influenced by environmental changes suggesting they will be strongly affected by future climate change and associated temperature increase and an upward migration of vegetation. Our results provide the first insights into the soil microbiome of mountain summits in the European Alps that are shaped as a result of highly variable local environmental conditions and may help to predict responses of the soil biota to global climate change.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

The Soil Microbiome of GLORIA Mountain Summits in the Swiss Alps

et al. 2019

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“…The effects were accompanied by evident shifts in soil microbial community structures and functions (Fierer et al ., 2012; Wei et al ., 2013; Li et al ., 2016; Zeng et al ., 2016). In different ecosystems, the α‐diversity of soil microbial communities decreases (Zeng et al ., 2016; Wang et al ., 2018) or does not change (Fierer et al ., 2012; Yuan et al ., 2017) under increased N deposition. These patterns of soil microbial community response to N deposition have been proved to correlate with the variations in soil abiotic conditions (Zhang et al ., 2008; Wei et al ., 2013; Zeng et al ., 2016) and nutrient availability (Bardgett et al ., 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, accurately predicting the pattern of soil microbial community response to N deposition in arid ecosystems on the basis of the results archived in mesic systems is difficult (Collins et al ., 2008; Mueller et al ., 2015; Yuan et al ., 2017). It might be due to the peculiar soil conditions (i.e., the low water availability and alkaline soil pH) and the aboveground biota of the dryland ecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil prokaryotic community shows no response to 2 years of simulated nitrogen deposition in an arid ecosystem in northwestern China

Huang

et al. 2020

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary An arid ecosystem might be sensitive to nitrogen (N) deposition, but the associated ecosystem‐specific response of soil microbes is not well studied. To assess the N enrichment effects on plant and prokaryotic community diversity, we performed a two‐year NH4NO3 treatment in a desert steppe in northwestern China. Results showed that N addition increased plant aboveground biomass and decreased plant Shannon diversity. A C4 herb (Salsola collina) became dominant, and loss of legume species was observed. The concentrations of soil NH4+‐N, NO3−‐N, microbial biomass N, and the plant aboveground biomass N pool increased in contrast to total N, suggesting that the N input into the arid ecosystem might mainly be assimilated by plants and exit the ecosystem. Remarkably, the α‐diversity and structure of the soil prokaryotic community did not vary even at the highest N addition rate. Structural equation modelling further found that the plant aboveground N pool counteracted the acidification effect of N deposition and maintained soil pH thus partially stabilizing the composition of prokaryotic communities in a desert steppe. These findings suggested that the plants and N loss might contribute to the lack of responsiveness of soil prokaryotic community to N deposition in a desert steppe.

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“…Building on long-standing perspectives that have examined ecosystem succession in terms of plant communities ( Clements, 1916 ; Vitousek et al, 1993 ; Chapin et al, 1994 ), research is increasingly demonstrating the importance of soil microbial community succession in mediating both physical and chemical changes in ecosystem development ( Nemergut et al, 2007 ; Schmidt et al, 2008 ; Knelman et al, 2014 ; Castle et al, 2017 ). In combining both perspectives, the importance of plant–microbe interactions as a driver of community assembly and ecosystem succession has come to light ( Bartelt-Ryser et al, 2005 ; Kardol et al, 2006 ; Cline and Zak, 2015 ; Knelman et al, 2015 ; Yuan et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Bueno de Mesquita et al, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecific Plant Interactions Reflected in Soil Bacterial Community Structure and Nitrogen Cycling in Primary Succession

et al. 2018

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Past research demonstrating the importance plant–microbe interactions as drivers of ecosystem succession has focused on how plants condition soil microbial communities, impacting subsequent plant performance and plant community assembly. These studies, however, largely treat microbial communities as a black box. In this study, we sought to examine how emblematic shifts from early successional Alnus viridus ssp. sinuata (Sitka alder) to late successional Picea sitchensis (Sitka spruce) in primary succession may be reflected in specific belowground changes in bacterial community structure and nitrogen cycling related to the interaction of these two plants. We examined early successional alder-conditioned soils in a glacial forefield to delineate how alders alter the soil microbial community with increasing dominance. Further, we assessed the impact of late-successional spruce plants on these early successional alder-conditioned microbiomes and related nitrogen cycling through a leachate addition microcosm experiment. We show how increasingly abundant alder select for particular bacterial taxa. Additionally, we found that spruce leachate significantly alters the composition of these microbial communities in large part by driving declines in taxa that are enriched by alder, including bacterial symbionts. We found these effects to be spruce specific, beyond a general leachate effect. Our work also demonstrates a unique influence of spruce on ammonium availability. Such insights bolster theory relating the importance of plant–microbe interactions with late-successional plants and interspecific plant interactions more generally.

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Patterns of Soil Bacterial Richness and Composition Tied to Plant Richness, Soil Nitrogen, and Soil Acidity in Alpine Tundra

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

The Soil Microbiome of GLORIA Mountain Summits in the Swiss Alps

The Soil Microbiome of GLORIA Mountain Summits in the Swiss Alps

Soil prokaryotic community shows no response to 2 years of simulated nitrogen deposition in an arid ecosystem in northwestern China

Interspecific Plant Interactions Reflected in Soil Bacterial Community Structure and Nitrogen Cycling in Primary Succession

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