scholarly journals Plant functional traits determine latitudinal variations in soil microbial function: evidence from forests in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (17) ◽  
pp. 3333-3349
Author(s):  
Zhiwei Xu ◽  
Guirui Yu ◽  
Qiufeng Wang ◽  
Xinyu Zhang ◽  
Ruili Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Substrate Use ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Microbial Function ◽  
Som Decomposition

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–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 latitudinal variation in the profiles of different substrate use along the NSTEC. Specifically, we found that the substrate use by microorganisms was highest in the temperate forest soils (soil microbial substrate use intensities of 10–12), followed by the subtropical forest soils (soil microbial substrate use intensities of 7–10), and was least in the coniferous forest soils (soil microbial substrate use intensities of 4–7). The latitudinal variation in soil microbial function was more closely related to plant functional traits (leaf dry matter content, leaf C concentrations, and leaf N concentrations, P=0.002) than climate (mean annual precipitation, P=0.022). The soil silt, leaf dry matter, and leaf C and N contents were the main controls on the biogeographical patterns of microbial substrate use in these forest soils. The soil microbial community structures and functions were significantly correlated along the NSTEC. Soil carbohydrate and polymer substrate use were mainly related to soil Gram-positive (G+) bacterial and actinomycic phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), while the use of amine and miscellaneous substrates were related to soil Gram-negative (G−) bacterial and fungal PLFAs. The enzyme production varied with changes in the soil microbial communities. The soil enzyme activities were positively correlated with the bacterial PLFAs but were not correlated with the fungal PLFAs. The soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition rates were significantly higher in the temperate forests than in the subtropical and tropical forests, emphasizing the rapid degradability of high-energy substrates such as soil microbial biomass carbon, carbohydrates, and amino acids. The SOM decomposition rates were significantly and negatively related to soil dissolved organic carbon concentrations, carboxylic acids, polymers, and miscellaneous substrate use. The relationships between soil PLFAs and microbial substrate use, enzyme activities, and SOM decomposition rate show that as the soil microbial community structure changes, soil biogeochemical processes also change.

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

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiwei Xu ◽  
Guirui Yu ◽  
Xinyu Zhang ◽  
Ruili Wang ◽  
Ning Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Substrate Use ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Carbon Concentrations

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–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− 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.

scholarly journals Ester Linked Fatty Acid (ELFA) method should be used with caution for interpretating soil microbial communities and their relationships with environmental variables in forest soils

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251501
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Yu ◽  
Huanhuan Gao ◽  
Hongzhang Kang
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Phospholipid Fatty Acid ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Forest Sites

As an alternative for phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, a simpler ester linked fatty acid (ELFA) analysis has been developed to characterize soil microbial communities. However, few studies have compared the two methods in forest soils where the contribution of nonmicrobial sources may be larger than that of microbial sources. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the two methods yield similar relationships of microbial biomass and composition with environmental variables. Here, we compared PLFA and ELFA methods with respect to microbial biomass and composition and their relationships with environmental variables in six oriental oak (Quercus variabilis) forest sites along a 1500-km latitudinal gradient in East China. We found that both methods had a low sample-to-sample variability and successfully separated overall community composition of sites. However, total, bacterial, and fungal biomass, the fungal-to-bacterial ratio, and the gram-positive to gram-negative bacteria ratio were not significantly or strongly correlated between the two methods. The relationships of these microbial properties with environmental variables (pH, precipitation, and clay) greatly differed between the two methods. Our study indicates that despite its simplicity, the ELFA method may not be as feasible as the PLFA method for investigating microbial biomass and composition and for identifying their dominant environmental drivers, at least in forest soils.

scholarly journals On Maintenance and Metabolisms in Soil Microbial Communities

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dijkstra ◽  
Weichao Wu ◽  
Michaela Dippold ◽  
Egbert Schwartz ◽  
Bruce Hungate ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Metabolic Flux ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Ecology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Flux Analysis ◽  
Maintenance Energy ◽  
Substrate Use ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Use Efficiency

Abstract Biochemistry is an essential yet often undervalued aspect of soil ecology, especially in soil C cycling. We assume based on tradition, intuition or hope that the complexity of biochemistry is confined to the microscopic world, and can be ignored when dealing with whole soil systems. This opinion paper draws attention to patterns caused by basic biochemical processes that permeate the world of ecosystem processes. From these patterns, we can estimate activities of the biochemical reactions of the central C metabolic network and gain insights into the ecophysiology of microbial biosynthesis and growth and maintenance energy requirements; important components of Carbon Use Efficiency (CUE).The biochemical pathways used to metabolize glucose vary from soil to soil, with mostly glycolysis in some soils, and pentose phosphate or Entner-Doudoroff pathways in others. However, notwithstanding this metabolic diversity, glucose use efficiency is high and thus substrate use for maintenance energy and overflow respiration is low in these three soils. These results contradict current dogma based on four decades of research in soil ecology. We identify three main shortcomings in our current understanding of substrate use efficiency: 1) in numeric and conceptual models, we lack appreciation of the strategies that microbes employ to quickly reduce energy needs in response to starvation; 2) production of exudates and microbial turnover affect whole-soil CUE more than variation in maintenance energy demand; and 3) whether tracer experiments can be used to measure the long-term substrate use efficiency of soil microbial communities depends critically on the ability of non-growing cells to take up tracer substrates, how biosynthesis responds to these substrates, as well as on how cellular activities scale to the community level.To move the field of soil ecology forward, future research must consider the details of microbial ecophysiology and develop new tools that enable direct measurement of microbial functioning in intact soils. We submit that 13C metabolic flux analysis is one of those new tools.

Soil processes and microbial community structures in 45- and 135-year-old lodgepole pine stands

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 2263-2271 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Chatterjee ◽  
L.J. Ingram ◽  
G.F. Vance ◽  
P.D. Stahl
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Tree Biomass ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Live Tree

As forests develop, changes in soil organic matter quantity and quality affect both nutrient dynamics and microbial community structure. Litter decomposition and nitrogen mineralization in association with soil microbial communities were compared between 45- and 135-year-old lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia (Englem.)) stands in southeastern Wyoming, USA. Compared with the 45-year-old stand, the 135-year-old stand was found to have greater live-tree biomass, litter decomposition rates (264 versus 135 mg·(g litter)–1·year–1), soil nitrification rates (0.38 versus 0.19 µg NO3–·(g soil)–1 after 265 days of field incubation), and total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations (25 versus 9.2 nmol·(g soil)–1 at 0–5 cm depth). Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that variation of PLFA profiles within the 45-year-old stand was explained by soil pH and bulk density, whereas soil process rates explained the distributions of PLFA profiles within the 135-year-old stand. The results of these studies indicate that stand age influences live-tree biomass and soil properties that can lead to changes in litter decomposition rates and soil microbial communities in lodgepole pine forests.

Long- and short-term temperature differences affect organic and inorganic nitrogen availability in forest soils

2015 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Boczulak ◽  
B. J. Hawkins ◽  
D. G. Maynard ◽  
R. Roy
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Forest Soils ◽  
Nitrogen Availability ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
N Cycling ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Soil Microbial

Boczulak, S. A., Hawkins, B. J., Maynard, D. G. and Roy, R. 2015. Long- and short-term temperature differences affect organic and inorganic nitrogen availability in forest soils. Can. J. Soil Sci. 95: 77–86. Soil microbial activity determines rates of decomposition and is strongly influenced by temperature. Soil microbial communities may be adapted to site characteristics, including temperature, through physiological modification of microbial populations or changes in species composition; however, response to short-term changes in temperature may also occur. We searched for evidence of short- and long-term temperature response of microbial communities involved in soil nitrogen (N) cycling by measuring the relative availability of organic and inorganic N forms in forest soils from a high and a low elevation site, incubated at 10, 16 and 20°C for 16 wk. By week 16, ammonium concentrations were greater in soils incubated at 16 and 20°C than at 10°C, and in soil from the low elevation site, compared with high elevation. Nitrate concentrations increased in soil from the low elevation site incubated at 16 and 20°C, but changed little in other treatments. Assessment of autotrophic nitrification potential showed gross nitrification in soil from the low elevation site was likely from classical chemolithotrophic nitrifiers. Organic N concentration increased over time in the 16 and 20°C incubations of soil from the low elevation site, but only increased in the 20°C treatment for soil from the high elevation site. Long-lasting site effects were indicated by the more active microbial community in soil from low elevation, which could be related to site temperature. Evidence of short-term temperature response of N cycling processes was observed in soils from both elevations.

scholarly journals A plant economics spectrum of litter decomposition among coexisting fern species in a sub-tropical forest

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-155
Author(s):  
Dunmei Lin ◽  
Shufang Yang ◽  
Pengpeng Dou ◽  
Hongjuan Wang ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Fine Roots ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Resource Acquisition ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Decomposition Rates ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Fern Species

Abstract Background and Aims The plant economics spectrum theory provides a useful framework to examine plant strategies by integrating the co-ordination of plant functional traits along a resource acquisition–conservation trade-off axis. Empirical evidence for this theory has been widely observed for seed plants (Spermatophyta). However, whether this theory can be applied to ferns (Pteridophyta), a ubiquitous and ancient group of vascular plants, has rarely been evaluated so far. Methods We measured 11 pairs of plant functional traits on leaves and fine roots (diameter <2 mm) on 12 coexisting fern species in a sub-tropical forest. Litterbags of leaves and roots were placed in situ and exposed for 586 d to measure decomposition rates. The variation of traits across species and the co-ordination among traits within and between plant organs were analysed. Finally, the influence of the traits on decomposition rates were explored. Key Results Most leaf and root traits displayed high cross-species variation, and were aligned along a major resource acquisition–conservation trade-off axis. Many fern traits co-varied between leaves and fine roots, suggesting co-ordinated responses between above- and below-ground organs. Decomposition rates of leaves were significantly higher than those of fine roots, but they were significantly and positively correlated. Finally, our results highlight that the decomposition of both leaves and roots was relatively well predicted by the leaf and root economics spectra. Conclusions Our results support the existence of an acquisition–conservation trade-off axis within ferns and indicate that traits have important ‘afterlife’ effects on fern litter decomposition. We conclude that the plant economics spectrum theory that is commonly observed across seed plants can be applied to ferns species, thereby extending the generality of this theory to this ancient plant lineage in our study site. Our study further suggests that the evolutionary and ecological basis for the relationships among key economics traits appears to be similar between ferns and seed plants. Future studies involving larger data sets will be required to confirm these findings across different biomes at larger spatial scales.

scholarly journals Salicylic Acid Signals Recruit the Rhizosphere Microbiome Cooperate Resistance to Watermelon Fusarium Wilt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
feiying zhu ◽  
YONG FANG ◽  
Zhiwei Wang ◽  
XI CHEN ◽  
Zhengliang Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salicylic Acid ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Fusarium Wilt ◽  
Soil Microorganisms ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Soil Microbial Diversity ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Microbial Function ◽  
Sampling Times

Abstract Aims: In order to find out the mechanism of how salicylic acid signal recruit soil microorganisms to explain their cooperate resistance to Fusarium wilt disease in watermelon plants. Methods: In this experiment, we have examined the soil microbial diversity at three different sampling times after salicylic acid application by metagenomic using Illumina Novaseq6000 platform. Results: The results showed that the incidence of Watermelon Fusarium Wilt was significantly lower than control group after SA application. Notably, our results indicated that the application of salicylic acid recruit soil microbial communities in watermelon plants. Furthermore, the soil microbial metabolic pathway and microbial function were significantly different after SA treatment which is beneficial to the antagonism of plants against pathogens. Conclusion: Therefore, our results suggested that the induced resistant observed in watermelon against Fusarium wilt might be a case of cooperate resistance dependent on salicylic acid signals to recruit soil microorganisms.

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