Project description:Fire is a crucial event regulating the structure and functioning of many ecosystems. Yet few studies focused on how fire affects both the taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microbial communities, along with plant diversity and soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics. Here, we analyze these effects for a grassland ecosystem 9-months after an experimental fire at the Jasper Ridge Global Change Experiment (JRGCE) site in California, USA. Fire altered soil microbial communities considerably, with community assembly process analysis indicating that environmental selection pressure was higher in burned sites. However, a small subset of highly connected taxa were able to withstand the disturbance. In addition, fire decreased the relative abundances of most genes associated with C degradation and N cycling, implicating a slow-down of microbial processes linked to soil C and N dynamics. In contrast, fire stimulated plant growth, likely enhancing plant-microbe competition for soil inorganic N. To synthesize our findings, we performed structural equation modeling, which showed that plants but not microbial communities were responsible for the significantly higher soil respiration rates in burned sites. In conclusion, fire is well-documented to considerable alter the taxonomic and functional composition of soil microorganisms, along with the ecosystem functioning, thus arousing feedback of ecosystem responses to affect global climate.
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen05_05102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen03_05102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen16_06102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen01_05102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen07_05102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen10_05102014_R1 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen15_06102014_R2 metagenome
Project description:Surface soil microbial communities from Centralia Pennsylvania, which are recovering from an underground coalmine fire - Coalmine Soil_Cen12_06102014_R2 metagenome