Steering the soil microbiome by repeated litter addition

Abstract

Microbial communities drive plant litter breakdown. Litters originating from different plant species are often associated with specialised microbiomes that accelerate the breakdown of that litter, known as home‐field advantage. Yet, how and how fast microbial communities specialise towards litter inputs is not known. Here we study effects of repeated litter additions on soil microbial community structure and functioning. We set up a 9‐month, full‐factorial, reciprocal litter transplant experiment with soils and litters from six plant species (three grasses and three trees). We measured fungal and bacterial community composition, litter mass loss and home‐field effects. We found that repeated litter additions resulted in convergence in fungal community composition driven by litter functional group (trees vs. grasses). Grasses enriched Sordariomycetes, while Tremellomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Leotiomycetes were favoured by tree litter. Bacterial community composition, litter mass loss and home‐field effects were not affected by litter incubation, but there was a relationship between fungal community composition and mass loss. We conclude that repeated litter incubations can result in directional shifts in fungal community composition, while 9 months of litter addition did not change bacterial community composition and the functioning and specialisation of microbial communities. Testing further how repeated litter inputs affect microbial functioning is essential for steering decomposer communities for optimal soil carbon and nutrient cycling.

Predicting the structure and functions of peatland microbial communities from Sphagnum phylogeny, anatomical and morphological traits and metabolites

“…The addition of grass litter to tree soils resulted in the convergence of fungal communities to those found in grass soils incubated with grass litter and vice versa. Such steering effects are more likely driven by different chemical composition of plant litter, suggesting that microbial communities can be selected by adding particular litter, and therefore particular plant metabolite cocktails (van Dam & Bouwmeester, 2016;Veen et al, 2021). These results support our findings and highlight the urgent need in new experiments to test whether plants select particular soil microbiome.…”

“…The exact mechanisms by which Sphagnum mosses shape their microbiome are as yet unknown, but differences in the metabolite cocktails that Sphagnum release into their surrounding are likely to be an important factor. Interestingly to mention, a recent study found that repeated litter inputs resulted in directional shifts in the composition of the soil microbiome, especially fungal communities (Veen et al, 2021). The addition of grass litter to tree soils resulted in the convergence of fungal communities to those found in grass soils incubated with grass litter and vice versa.…”

Effects of Litter and Root Manipulations on Soil Bacterial and Fungal Community Structure and Function in a Schrenk’s Spruce (Picea schrenkiana) Forest

“…Soil microorganisms are influenced by the input of exogenous organic matter such as litter and roots, but the magnitude of the effect is closely related to the quantity and quality of organic matter ( Fanin and Bertrand, 2016 ). Previous studies have also shown that the soil microbial community structure has different responses to the input of exogenous organic matter ( Habtewold et al, 2020 ; Veen et al, 2021 ). For example, litter addition facilitated soil fungal growth and significantly reduced the bacteria: fungi ratio in subtropical forests ( Wang et al, 2013 ).…”

High-throughput molecular technologies for unraveling the mystery of soil microbial community: challenges and future prospects

“…Ultimately, these limitations may cause losses in agricultural and forestry productivity, soil degradation, water deficit, reduced biodiversity, and destruction of certain valuable landscapes ( Berg et al., 2020 ; Hirsch et al., 2013 ; Stegen et al., 2018 ). Because the soil microbial community can be affected by many ecological and agronomic factors, it is reasonable to consider the effect of the environment, especially with global warming, for optimal management of the soil microbiome ( Jacoby et al., 2017 ; Veen et al., 2021 ; Zolla et al., 2013 ).…”