Litter manipulation effects on microbial communities and enzymatic activities vary with soil depth in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation

Biochar is a promising material for the improvement of soil quality. However, studies on biochar have mostly been carried out in laboratory conditions or have focused on agricultural aspects. The impacts of the application of biochar on soil characteristics and related ecological processes of the forest ecosystem have not been fully resolved. In this study, we investigated the effects of regular biochar and bacteria-loaded biochar on the microbial communities in the bulk soil and the rhizosphere soil of an annual Chinese fir plantation. In early spring (April), the two types of biochar were added to the soil at the rates of 2.22 t·ha−1, 4.44 t·ha−1, 6.67 t·ha−1, 8.89 t·ha−1, and 11.11 t·ha−1 by ring furrow application around the seedlings, and soil samples were collected at the end of autumn (November). The results showed that biochar addition increased the soil nutrient content and promoted the growth and diversity of soil microbial communities. The diversity of soil fungi was significantly increased, and the diversity of soil bacteria was significantly decreased. Principal component analysis under the different biochar types and application rates demonstrated that microbial communities differed significantly between the treatments and controls and that the effect of biochar on the microbial community of the bulk soil was more significant than that of the rhizosphere soil. Under the same dosage, the effect of bacteria-loaded biochar on soil was more significant than that of regular biochar.

Download Full-text

Responses of C-, N- and P-acquiring hydrolases to P and N fertilizers in a subtropical Chinese fir plantation depend on soil depth

Applied Soil Ecology ◽

10.1016/j.apsoil.2019.103465 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 150 ◽

pp. 103465 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chuang Zhang ◽

Xinyu Zhang ◽

Yakov Kuzyakov ◽

Huimin Wang ◽

Xiaoli Fu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Depth ◽

Chinese Fir ◽

N Fertilizers ◽

Chinese Fir Plantation

Download Full-text

Long-Term Thinning Does not Significantly Affect Soil Water-Stable Aggregates and Diversity of Bacteria and Fungi in Chinese Fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) Plantations in Eastern China

Forests ◽

10.3390/f9110687 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 687 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Xiangrong Cheng ◽

Wenli Xing ◽

Haijing Yuan ◽

Mukui Yu

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Nitrogen Concentration ◽

Eastern China ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Chinese Fir ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Water Stable Aggregates ◽

Bacteria And Fungi ◽

Chinese Fir Plantation

Soil structure and microbial communities are sensitive to forest disturbance. However, little is known about the long-term effects of forest thinning on water-stable aggregates (WSA), and the community composition and diversity of soil microorganisms. In this study, we investigated soil chemical properties, WSA, and communities of bacteria and fungi in conventionally managed Chinese fir plantation stands and repeatedly thinned plantation stands with medium and high tree densities 18 years after the thinning treatments. The distribution patterns of WSA fractions were similar in the three thinning treatments. The mass proportion was the highest in the macro-aggregates fraction, followed by the clay + silt fraction, and it was the lowest in the micro-aggregates fraction. The soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations in different WSA fractions decreased with decreasing aggregate size. The WSA fractions, stability, and aggregate-associated carbon were not significantly different among the three treatments 18 years after the thinning treatments. The total nitrogen concentration of the macro-aggregates fraction was significantly higher in the stands thinned intensively than in the conventionally managed stands. The abundance of minor bacteria and fungi species was different, although no significant differences were observed in the overall bacterial and fungal composition and diversity between the three treatments. Our results indicate that, compared with the conventionally managed stands, soil WSA stability and soil microbial communities in repeatedly thinned Chinese fir stands may recover over one rotation of Chinese fir plantation and that this is accompanied by the recovery of stand growth and soil nutrition.

Download Full-text

Conversion of Natural Evergreen Broadleaved Forests Decreases Soil Organic Carbon but Increases the Relative Contribution of Microbial Residue in Subtropical China

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10060468 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 468 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Liuming Yang ◽

Silu Chen ◽

Yan Li ◽

Quancheng Wang ◽

Xiaojian Zhong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Chinese Fir ◽

Natural Forest ◽

Amino Sugars ◽

Forest Conversion ◽

Pine Plantation ◽

Chinese Fir Plantation ◽

Microbial Residue

It has been recognized that land use change affects soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and the associated microbial turnover. However, the contribution of microbial residue to SOC storage remains largely unknown in land use change processes. To this end, we adopted a “space for time” approach to examine the dynamics of SOC and amino sugars, which was a biomarker of microbial residue C, in different natural forest conversions. Three typical converted forests were selected: an assisted natural regeneration (ANR) and two coniferous plantations of Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook (Chinese fir) and Pinus massoniana Lamb. (pine) each. All of these were developed at the same time after the harvest of an old natural forest and they were used to evaluate the effects of forest conversions with contrasting anthropogenic disturbance on SOC and microbial residue C, along with the natural forest. Natural forest conversion led to an approximately 42% decrease in SOC for ANR with low anthropogenic disturbance, 60% for the Chinese fir plantation, and 64% for the pine plantation. In contrast, the natural forest conversion led to a 32% decrease in the total amino sugars (TAS) for ANR, 43% for the Chinese fir plantation, and 54% for the pine plantation at a soil depth of 0–10 cm. The ratios of TAS to SOC were significantly increased following natural forest conversion, with the highest ratio being observed in the Chinese fir plantation, whereas the ratios of glucosamine to muramic acid (GluN/MurA) were significantly decreased in the two plantations, but not in ANR. The contents of SOC, individual amino sugar, or TAS, and GluN/MurA ratios were consistently higher at a soil depth of 0–10 cm than at 10–20 cm for all of the experimental forests. Redundancy analysis showed that microbial residue C was significantly correlated with SOC, and both were positively correlated with fine root biomass, annual litterfall, and soil available phosphorus. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that microbial residue C accumulation varied with SOC and litter input, and played a more important role in SOC storage following forest conversion to plantations with higher anthropogenic disturbance.

Download Full-text

Screening, Identification and Growth-Promotion Products of Multifunctional Bacteria in a Chinese Fir Plantation

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12020120 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 120

Author(s):

Guangyu Zhao ◽

Yihui Wei ◽

Jiaqi Chen ◽

Yuhong Dong ◽

Lingyu Hou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Efficiency ◽

Growth Promotion ◽

Nitrogenase Activity ◽

Acc Deaminase ◽

Inorganic Phosphorus ◽

Chinese Fir ◽

Biochemical Tests ◽

Growth Promoting ◽

Chinese Fir Plantation ◽

Physiological And Biochemical

Purpose: This research was aimed to screen and identify multifunctional phosphorus-dissolving bacteria of a Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantation and study its phosphorus-dissolving characteristics in order to provide strain resources and a theoretical basis for developing the appropriate bacterial fertilizer of a Chinese fir plantation. Methods: First, phosphorus-dissolving bacteria were isolated from the woodland soil of a Chinese fir plantation by Pikovskava inorganic phosphorus medium (PVK). Then, some growth-promoting indicators of primary screening strains were determined, including the capacity of phosphorus-solubilized, nitrogenase activity, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase activity, production of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), secretion of iron carrier and so on. Finally, the screening multifunctional phosphorus-dissolving bacteria were identified, which were combined with colony characteristics, physiological and biochemical tests and molecular biotechnology. Results: (1) Thirteen phosphorus-dissolving bacteria were isolated and screened in total, and P5 (195.61 mg·L−1) had the strongest capacity of phosphorus-solubilized. Five phosphorus-dissolving bacteria were provided with nitrogenase activity, and the highest activity of nitrogenase was P10 and P5 (71.90 C2H4 nmol·mL−1·h−1 and 71.00 C2H4 nmol·mL−1·h−1, respectively). Four strains were provided with ACC deaminase activity, and the highest activity of ACC deaminase was P5 and P9, (0.74 μmol·mg−1·h−1 and 0.54 μmol·mg−1·h−1, respectively). Most strains could secrete IAA, and three strains of bacteria had a strong secretory ability, which could secrete IAA with a concentration greater than 15 mg·mL−1, and P5 was 18.00, P2 was 17.30, P6 was 15.59 (mg·mL−1). P5 produced carriers of iron better than others, and the ratio of the diameter of the iron production carrier ring to the diameter of the colony was 1.80, respectively, which was significantly higher than other strains. Combining all kinds of factors, P5 multifunctional phosphorus-dissolving bacteria were screened for eventual further study. (2) Strain P5 was identified as Burkholderia ubonensis, based on the colony characteristics, physiological and biochemical tests, 16SrDNA sequence analysis and phylogenetic tree construction. Conclusion: P5 has a variety of high-efficiency growth-promoting capabilities, and the ability to produce IAA, ACC deaminase activity and siderophore performance are significantly higher than other strains, which had great potential in the development of microbial fertilizer.

Download Full-text

Comparison of Drivers of Soil Microbial Communities Developed in Karst Ecosystems with Shallow and Deep Soil Depths

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11010173 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 173

Author(s):

Huiling Guan ◽

Jiangwen Fan ◽

Haiyan Zhang ◽

Warwick Harris

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Phospholipid Fatty Acid ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Soil System ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Total Soil ◽

Karst Ecosystems

Soil erosion is prevalent in karst areas, but few studies have compared the differences in the drivers for soil microbial communities among karst ecosystems with different soil depths, and most studies have focused on the local scale. To fill this research gap, we investigated the upper 20 cm soil layers of 10 shallow–soil depth (shallow–SDC, total soil depth less than 100 cm) and 11 deep–soil depth communities (deep–SDC, total soil depth more than 100 cm), covering a broad range of vegetation types, soils, and climates. The microbial community characteristics of both the shallow–SDC and deep–SDC soils were tested by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFAs) analysis, and the key drivers of the microbial communities were illustrated by forward selection and variance partitioning analysis. Our findings demonstrated that more abundant soil nutrients supported higher fungal PLFA in shallow–SDC than in deep–SDC (p < 0.05). Furthermore, stronger correlation between the microbial community and the plant–soil system was found in shallow–SDC: the pure plant effect explained the 43.2% of variance in microbial biomass and 57.8% of the variance in the ratio of Gram–positive bacteria to Gram–negative bacteria (G+/G−), and the ratio of fungi to total bacteria (F/B); the pure soil effect accounted for 68.6% variance in the microbial diversity. The ratio of microbial PLFA cyclopropyl to precursors (Cy/Pr) and the ratio of saturated PLFA to monounsaturated PLFA (S/M) as indicators of microbial stress were controlled by pH, but high pH was not conducive to microorganisms in this area. Meanwhile, Cy/Pr in all communities was >0.1, indicating that microorganisms were under environmental stress. Therefore, the further ecological restoration of degraded karst communities is needed to improve their microbial communities.

Download Full-text