Dataset Information

Microbial Diversity in Bulk and Rhizosphere Soil of Ranunculus glacialis Along a High-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient.

ABSTRACT: Serving as "natural laboratories", altitudinal gradients can be used to study changes in the distribution of microorganisms in response to changing environmental conditions that typically occur over short geographical distances. Besides, rhizosphere zones of plants are known to be hot-spots for microbial diversity and to contain different microbial communities when compared with surrounding bulk soil. To discriminate the effects of altitude and plants, we investigated the microbial communities in the rhizosphere of Ranunculus glacialis and bulk soil along a high-alpine altitudinal gradient (2,600-3,400 m a.s.l.). The research area of this study was Mount (Mt.) "Schrankogel" in the Central Alps of Tyrol (Austria). Our results point to significantly different microbial diversities and community compositions in the different altitudinal belts. In the case of prokaryotes, environmental parameters could explain 41% of the total variation of soil communities, with pH and temperature being the strongest influencing factors. Comparing the effects derived from fraction (bulk vs. rhizosphere soil) and environmental factors, the effects of the roots of R. glacialis accounted for about one third of the explained variation. Fungal communities on the other hand were nearly exclusively influenced by environmental parameters accounting for 37.4% of the total variation. Both, for altitudinal zones as well as for bulk and rhizosphere fractions a couple of very specific biomarker taxa could be identified. Generally, the patterns of abundance of several taxa did not follow a steady increased or decreased trend along the altitudinal gradient but in many cases a maximal or minimal occurrence was established at mid-altitudes (3,000-3,100 m). This mid-altitudinal zone is a transition zone (the so-called alpine-nival ecotone) between the (lower) alpine grassland/tundra zone and the (upper) sparsely vegetated nival zone and was shown to correspond with the summer snow line. Climate change and the associated increase in temperature will shift this transition zone and thus, might also shift the described microbial patterns and biomarkers.

SUBMITTER: Praeg N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6629913 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Microbial Diversity in Bulk and Rhizosphere Soil of <i>Ranunculus glacialis</i> Along a High-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient.

Praeg Nadine N Pauli Harald H Illmer Paul P

Frontiers in microbiology 20190709

Serving as "natural laboratories", altitudinal gradients can be used to study changes in the distribution of microorganisms in response to changing environmental conditions that typically occur over short geographical distances. Besides, rhizosphere zones of plants are known to be hot-spots for microbial diversity and to contain different microbial communities when compared with surrounding bulk soil. To discriminate the effects of altitude and plants, we investigated the microbial communities i ...[more]

PMID: 31338073

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Project description:Soil microorganisms play key roles in biogeochemical cycling in forest ecosystems. However, whether the responses of microbial community with stand development differed in rhizosphere and bulk soils remains unknown. We collected rhizosphere and bulk soil in Chinese fir plantations with different stand ages (7a, 15a, 24a, and 34a) in subtropical China, and determined bacterial and fungal community variation via high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that soil bacterial, but not fungal, community diversity significantly differed among stand ages and between rhizosphere and bulk soils (p < 0.05). The differences in Shannon-Wiener and Simpson's indices between rhizosphere and bulk soil varied with stand age, with significant higher soil bacterial diversity in rhizosphere than bulk soils in 7a and 34a plantations (p < 0.05), but there were no significant difference in soil bacterial diversity between rhizosphere and bulk soils in 15a and 24a plantations (p > 0.05). Soil microbial community composition varied significantly with stand age but not between the rhizosphere and bulk soil. The dominant bacterial phyla at all ages were Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria, while the dominant fungal phyla were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota in both rhizosphere and bulk soil. They showed inconsistent distribution patterns along stand age gradient (7-34a) in the rhizosphere and bulk soil, suggesting distinct ecological strategy (r-strategist vs. k-strategist) of different microbial taxa, as well as changes in the microenvironment (i.e., nutrient stoichiometry and root exudates). Moreover, bacterial and fungal community composition in rhizosphere and bulk soil were governed by distinct driving factors. TP and NH4 +-N are the two most important factors regulating bacterial and fungal community structure in rhizosphere soil, while pH and NO3 --N, DON, and TN were driving factors for bacterial and fungal community structure in bulk soil, respectively. Collectively, our results demonstrated that the changes in microbial diversity and composition were more obvious along stand age gradients than between sampling locations (rhizosphere vs. bulk soil) in Chinese fir plantations.

Dataset Information

Microbial Diversity in Bulk and Rhizosphere Soil of Ranunculus glacialis Along a High-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient.

Publications

Microbial Diversity in Bulk and Rhizosphere Soil of <i>Ranunculus glacialis</i> Along a High-Alpine Altitudinal Gradient.

Similar Datasets

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