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Soil chemical properties affect the reaction of forest soil bacteria to drought and rewetting stress.

ABSTRACT: Reaction of soil bacteria to drought and rewetting stress may depend on soil chemical properties. The objectives of this study were to test the reaction of different bacterial phyla to drought and rewetting stress and to assess the influence of different soil chemical properties on the reaction of soil bacteria to this kind of stress. The soil samples were taken at ten forest sites and measured for pH and the contents of organic C (C_org) and total N (N_t), Zn, Cu, and Pb. The samples were kept without water addition at 20 - 30 °C for 8 weeks and subsequently rewetted to achieve moisture equal to 50 - 60 % of their maximum water-holding capacity. Prior to the drought period and 24 h after the rewetting, the structure of soil bacterial communities was determined using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The drought and rewetting stress altered bacterial community structure. Gram-positive bacterial phyla, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, increased in relative proportion after the stress, whereas the Gram-negative bacteria in most cases decreased. The largest decrease in relative abundance was for Gammaproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. For several phyla the reaction to drought and rewetting stress depended on the chemical properties of soils. Soil pH was the most important soil property influencing the reaction of a number of soil bacterial groups (including all classes of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, and others) to drought and rewetting stress. For several bacterial phyla the reaction to the stress depended also on the contents of N_t and C_org in soil. The effect of heavy metal pollution was also noticeable, although weaker compared to other chemical soil properties. We conclude that soil chemical properties should be considered when assessing the effect of stressing factors on soil bacterial communities.

SUBMITTER: Chodak M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4529456 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Climate projections propose that drought stress will become challenging for establishing trees. The magnitude of stress is dependent on tree species, provenance, and most likely also highly influenced by soil quality. European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is of major ecological and economical importance in Central European forests. The species has an especially wide physiological and ecological amplitude enabling growth under various soil conditions within its distribution area in Central Europe. We studied the effects of extreme drought on beech saplings (second year) of four climatically distinct provenances growing on different soils (sandy loam and loamy sand) in a full factorial pot experiment. Foliar δ13C, δ15N, C, and N as well as above- and belowground growth parameters served as measures for stress level and plant growth. Low-quality soil enhanced the effect of drought compared with qualitatively better soil for the above- and belowground growth parameters, but foliar δ13C values revealed that plant stress was still remarkable in loamy soil. For beeches of one provenance, negative sandy soil effects were clearly smaller than for the others, whereas for another provenance drought effects in sandy soil were sometimes fatal. Foliar δ15N was correlated with plant size during the experiment. Plasticity of beech provenances in their reaction to drought versus control conditions varied clearly. Although a general trend of declining growth under control or drought conditions in sandy soil was found compared to loamy soil, the magnitude of the effect of soil quality was highly provenance specific. Provenances seemed to show adaptations not only to drought but also to soil quality. Accordingly, scientists should integrate information about climatic pre-adaptation and soil quality within the home range of populations for species distribution modeling and foresters should evaluate soil quality and climatic parameters when choosing donor populations for reforestation projects.

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Soil chemical properties affect the reaction of forest soil bacteria to drought and rewetting stress.

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