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Taxonomic and Functional Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Annual Removal of Aboveground Plant Biomass

Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Clipping, removal of aboveground plant biomass, is an important issue in grassland ecology. However, few studies have focused on the effect of clipping on belowground microbial communities. Using integrated metagenomic technologies, we examined the taxonomic and functional responses of soil microbial communities to annual clipping (2010-2014) in a grassland ecosystem of the Great Plains of North America. Our results indicated that clipping significantly (P < 0.05) increased root and microbial respiration rates. Annual temporal variation within the microbial communities was much greater than the significant changes introduced by clipping, but cumulative effects of clipping were still observed in the long-term scale. The abundances of some bacterial and fungal lineages including Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were significantly (P < 0.05) changed by clipping. Clipping significantly (P < 0.05) increased the abundances of labile carbon (C) degrading genes. More importantly, the abundances of recalcitrant C degrading genes were consistently and significantly (P < 0.05) increased by clipping in the last two years, which could accelerate recalcitrant C degradation and weaken long-term soil carbon stability. Furthermore, genes involved in nutrient-cycling processes including nitrogen cycling and phosphorus utilization were also significantly increased by clipping. The shifts of microbial communities were significantly correlated with soil respiration and plant productivity. Intriguingly, clipping effects on microbial function may be highly regulated by precipitation at the interannual scale. Altogether, our results illustrated the potential of soil microbial communities for increased soil organic matter decomposition under clipping land-use practices.
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00954
Authors: Xue Guo, Xishu Zhou, Lauren Hale, Mengting Yuan, Jiajie Feng, Daliang Ning, Zhou Shi, Yujia Qin, Feifei Liu, Liyou Wu, Zhili He, Joy D. Van Nostrand, Xueduan Liu, Yiqi Luo, James M. Tiedje, Jizhong Zhou
Institutions: Central South University, University of Oklahoma, Michigan State University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, Tsinghua University
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, University of Oklahoma, China Scholarship Council, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Office of Science
Awards: G1397645261, TAS::89 0222::TAS FROM COMMUNITY STRUCTURE TO FUNCTIONS: METAGENOMICS-ENABLED PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY OF SOIL CARBON DECO, TAS::89 0222::TAS FROM COMMUNITY STRUCTURE TO FUNCTIONS: METAGENOMICS-ENABLED PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF TEMPERATURE SENSITIVITY OF SOIL CARBON DECO, FROM STRUCTURE TO FUNCTIONS: METAGENOMICS-ENABLED PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL MICROBIAL FEEDBACKS TO CLIMATE CHANGE, G7317786197, FROM STRUCTURE TO FUNCTIONS: METAGENOMICS-ENABLED PREDICTIVE UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL MICROBIAL FEEDBACKS TO CLIMATE CHANGE
OpenAlex ID: W2799587903
FWCI: 1.403
Cites: 66
Cited by: 16
Related to: 10