Dataset Information

Succession of Microbial Decomposers Is Determined by Litter Type, but Site Conditions Drive Decomposition Rates.

ABSTRACT: Soil microorganisms are diverse, although they share functions during the decomposition of organic matter. Thus, preferences for soil conditions and litter quality were explored to understand their niche partitioning. A 1-year-long litterbag transplant experiment evaluated how soil physicochemical traits of contrasting sites combined with chemically distinct litters of sedge (S), milkvetch (M) from a grassland, and beech (B) from forest site decomposition. Litter was assessed by mass loss; C, N, and P contents; and low-molecular-weight compounds. Decomposition was described by the succession of fungi, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes; bacterial diversity; and extracellular enzyme activities. The M litter decomposed faster at the nutrient-poor forest site, where the extracellular enzymes were more active, but microbial decomposers were not more abundant. Actinobacteria abundance was affected by site, while Firmicutes and fungi by litter type and Alphaproteobacteria by both factors. Actinobacteria were characterized as late-stage substrate generalists, while fungi were recognized as substrate specialists and site generalists, particularly in the grassland. Overall, soil conditions determined the decomposition rates in the grassland and forest, but successional patterns of the main decomposers (fungi and Actinobacteria) were determined by litter type. These results suggest that shifts in vegetation mostly affect microbial decomposer community composition.IMPORTANCE Anthropogenic disturbance may cause shifts in vegetation and alter the litter input. We studied the decomposition of different litter types under soil conditions of a nutrient-rich grassland and nutrient-poor forest to identify factors responsible for changes in the community structure and succession of microbial decomposers. This will help to predict the consequences of induced changes on the abundance and activity of microbial decomposers and recognize if the decomposition process and resulting quality and quantity of soil organic matter will be affected at various sites.

SUBMITTER: Buresova A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6881812 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Succession of Microbial Decomposers Is Determined by Litter Type, but Site Conditions Drive Decomposition Rates.

Buresova A A Kopecky J J Hrdinkova V V Kamenik Z Z Omelka M M Sagova-Mareckova M M

Applied and environmental microbiology 20191127 24

Soil microorganisms are diverse, although they share functions during the decomposition of organic matter. Thus, preferences for soil conditions and litter quality were explored to understand their niche partitioning. A 1-year-long litterbag transplant experiment evaluated how soil physicochemical traits of contrasting sites combined with chemically distinct litters of sedge (S), milkvetch (M) from a grassland, and beech (B) from forest site decomposition. Litter was assessed by mass loss; C, N, ...[more]

PMID: 31604765

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Project description:Biodiversity loss in riparian forests has the potential to alter rates of leaf litter decomposition in stream ecosystems. However, studies have reported the full range of positive, negative and no effects of plant diversity loss on decomposition, and there is currently no explanation for such inconsistent results. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether plant diversity loss affects other ecological processes related to decomposition, such as fine particulate organic matter production or detritivore growth, which precludes a thorough understanding of how detrital stream food webs are impacted by plant diversity loss. We used a microcosm experiment to examine the effects of plant diversity loss on litter decomposition, fine particulate organic matter production, and growth of a dominant leaf-shredding detritivore, using litter mixtures varying in species composition. We hypothesized that plant diversity loss would decrease the rates of all studied processes, but such effects would depend on the leaf traits present in litter mixtures (both their average values and their variability). Our findings partly supported our hypotheses, showing that plant diversity loss had a consistently negative effect on litter decomposition and fine particulate organic matter production (but not on detritivore growth) across litter mixtures, which was mediated by detritivores. Importantly, the magnitude of the diversity effect and the relative importance of different mechanisms underlying this effect (i.e., complementarity vs. selection) varied depending on the species composition of litter mixtures, mainly because of differences in litter nutritional quality and trait variability. Complementarity was prevalent but varied in size, with positive selection effects also occurring in some mixtures. Our results support the notion that loss of riparian plant species is detrimental to key stream ecosystem processes that drive detrital food webs, but that the magnitude of such effects largely depends on the the order of species loss.

Dataset Information

Succession of Microbial Decomposers Is Determined by Litter Type, but Site Conditions Drive Decomposition Rates.

Publications

Succession of Microbial Decomposers Is Determined by Litter Type, but Site Conditions Drive Decomposition Rates.

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