An examination of the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship in arable soil microbial communities

Griffiths, Bryan S.; Ritz, Karl; Wheatley, Ron E.; Kuan, H. L.; Boag, B.; Christensen, Søren; Ekelund, Flemming; Sørensen, Søren J.; Müller, Sandra Cristina; Bloem, J.

doi:10.1016/s0038-0717(01)00094-3

Cited by 251 publications

(191 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…There is speculation that the broad taxonomic distribution of functional traits within microbial communities may confer functional robustness to losses of taxa and changes in composition (Giller et al, 1997;Wolters et al, 2000;Griffiths et al, 2001;Wertz et al, 2007). Intriguingly, this study shows that microbial community composition itself can be robust both to changing climate and to associated changes in plant production and species composition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Despite strong seasonal responses, soil microbial consortia are more resilient to long-term changes in rainfall than overlying grassland

et al. 2009

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Climate change impacts on soil microbial communities could alter the structure of terrestrial ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles of the Earth. We used 16S rRNA gene microarrays to evaluate changes in the composition of grassland soil microbial communities under rainfall amendments simulating alternative climate change scenarios, and to compare these to responses of overlying plants and invertebrates. Following 5 years of rainfall manipulation, soil bacteria and archaea in plots where natural rain was supplemented differed little from ambient controls, despite profound treatment-related changes in the overlying grassland. During the sixth and seventh year, seasonal differences in bacterial and archaeal assemblages emerged among treatments, but only when watering exacerbated or alleviated periods of particularly aberrant conditions in the ambient climate. In contrast to effects on plants and invertebrates, effects on bacteria and archaea did not compound across seasons or years, indicating that soil microbial communities may be more robust than associated aboveground macroorganisms to certain alterations in climate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Despite strong seasonal responses, soil microbial consortia are more resilient to long-term changes in rainfall than overlying grassland

et al. 2009

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“…Also, showing a reduction or change in microbial diversity does not in itself imply that soil processes are affected. Research by Griffiths et al (2001) indicated no effect on soil processes such as decomposition of grass clippings, nitrification and community level physiological profiling, despite decreases in microbial biomass by as much as 60% induced by soil fumigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of soil type and farm management on soil ecological functional genes and microbial activities

et al. 2010

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Relationships between soil microbial diversity and soil function are the subject of much debate. Process-level analyses have shown that microbial function varies with soil type and responds to soil management. However, such measurements cannot determine the role of community structure and diversity in soil function. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of gene frequency and diversity, measured by microarray analysis, on soil processes. The study was conducted in an agro-ecosystem characterized by contrasting management practices and soil types. Eight pairs of adjacent commercial organic and conventional strawberry fields were matched for soil type, strawberry variety, and all other environmental conditions. Soil physical, chemical and biological analyses were conducted including functional gene microarrays (FGA). Soil physical and chemical characteristics were primarily determined by soil textural type (coarse vs fine-textured), but biological and FGA measures were more influenced by management (organic vs conventional). Organically managed soils consistently showed greater functional activity as well as FGA signal intensity (SI) and diversity. Overall FGA SI and diversity were correlated to total soil microbial biomass. Functional gene group SI and/or diversity were correlated to related soil chemical and biological measures such as microbial biomass, cellulose, dehydrogenase, ammonium and sulfur. Management was the dominant determinant of soil biology as measured by microbial gene frequency and diversity, which paralleled measured microbial processes.

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“…For example, fungal diversity was found to be negatively correlated with the incidence of brown stem rot of adzuki bean due to Acremonium gregatum (Nitta 1991), and Qiu et al (2012) found that disease severity index was lower in bio-fertilizer treatment with a higher microbial diversity. However, soil microbial communities generally exhibit high functional redundancy, and it is now widely accepted that key functional species could be as important as the total microbial diversity (Griffiths et al 2001). Qiu et al (2012) found that declined abundance of Fusarium oxysporum and increased abundance of Trichoderma sp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular characterization of microbial communities in the rhizosphere soils and roots of diseased and healthy Panax notoginseng

Hao

Zeng

et al. 2015

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

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Rhizosphere and root-associated microbial communities are known to be related to soil-borne disease and plant health. In the present study, the microbial communities in rhizosphere soils and roots of both healthy and diseased Panax notoginseng were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA for bacteria and 18S rRNA internal transcribed spacer for fungi, to reveal the relationship of microbial community structure with plant health status. In total, 5593 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 963 fungal OTUs were identified in rhizosphere soils, while 1794 bacterial and 314 fungal OTUs were identified from root samples respectively. Principal coordinate analysis separated the microbial communities both in the rhizosphere soils and roots of diseased P. notoginseng from healthy plants. Compared to those of healthy P. notoginseng, microbial communities in rhizosphere soils and roots of diseased plants showed a decrease in alpha diversity. By contrast, bacterial community dissimilarity increased and fungal community dissimilarity decreased in rhizosphere soils of diseased plants, while both bacterial and fungal community dissimilarity in roots showed no significant difference between healthy and diseased plants. Redundancy analysis at the phylum level showed that mycorrhizal colonization and soil texture significantly affected microbial community composition in rhizosphere soils, whereas shoot nutrition status had a significant effect on microbial community composition in root samples. Our study provided strong evidence for the hypothesis that microbial diversity could potentially serve as an indicator for disease outbreak of medicinal plants, and supported the ecological significance of microbial communities in maintaining plant healthy and soil fertility.

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An examination of the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship in arable soil microbial communities

Cited by 251 publications

References 43 publications

Despite strong seasonal responses, soil microbial consortia are more resilient to long-term changes in rainfall than overlying grassland

Despite strong seasonal responses, soil microbial consortia are more resilient to long-term changes in rainfall than overlying grassland

Effects of soil type and farm management on soil ecological functional genes and microbial activities

Molecular characterization of microbial communities in the rhizosphere soils and roots of diseased and healthy Panax notoginseng

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