Effects of microtopography on soil microbial communities in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Li, Xinwei; Li, Xilai; Shi, Yan; Zhao, Shoujing; Liu, Jiale; Lin, Yinyi; Li, Chunli; Zhang, Chunhui

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2024.107945

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 75 publications

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“…The microtopography of peatland affects soil organic carbon components, soil fauna, enzyme activity, microbial biomass, and microbially regulated greenhouse gas emission processes [18][19][20]. Moreover, microtopography can mediate soil hydrothermal processes and nutrient movements that may further affect microbial community composition and diversity in the soil [21]. Although studies have been conducted in palustrine forested wetlands, boreal peatlands, and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, there is much less information available about the relationships between microbial community compositions affected by microtopography in permafrost peatlands [22][23][24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Microtopography on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Abundance in Permafrost Peatlands

Zhang,

Fu,

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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Soil microorganisms play crucial roles in the stability of the global carbon pool, particularly in permafrost peatlands that are highly sensitive to climate change. Microtopography is a unique characteristic of peatland ecosystems, but how microtopography affects the microbial community structures and their functions in the soil is only partially known. We characterized the bacterial and fungal community compositions by amplicon sequencing and their abundances via quantitative PCR at different soil depths in three microtopographical positions (hummocks, flats, and hollows) in permafrost peatland of the Greater Xing’an Mountains in China. The results showed that the soil of hummocks displayed a higher microbial diversity compared to hollows. Microtopography exerted a strong influence on bacterial community structure, while both microtopography and soil depth greatly impacted the fungal community structure with variable effects on fungal functional guilds. Soil water content, dissolved organic carbon, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen levels of the soil mostly affected the bacterial and fungal communities. Microtopography generated variations in the soil water content, which was the main driver of the spatial distribution of microbial abundances. This information stressed that the hummock–flat–hollow microtopography of permafrost peatlands creates heterogeneity in soil physicochemical properties and hydrological conditions, thereby influencing soil microbial communities at a microhabitat scale. Our results imply that changes to the water table induced by climate warming inducing permafrost degradation will impact the composition of soil microbes in peatlands and their related biogeochemical functions, eventually providing feedback loops into the global climate system.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Microtopography on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Abundance in Permafrost Peatlands

Zhang,

Fu,

et al. 2024

Microorganisms

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Soil ecological stoichiometry in varied micro-topographies of an alluvial fan at eastern Helan Mountains, Northwest China

Shen,

Zhao,

Shi

et al. 2024

J. Arid Land

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Aggregate Size Mediated the Changes in Soil Microbial Communities After the Afforestation of a Former Dryland in Northwestern China

Zhang,

Bai,

Wang

et al. 2024

Diversity

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Although the afforestation of former arable lands is a common global land-use conversion, its impact on soil microbial communities at the aggregate scale has not been adequately addressed. In this study, soil samples were categorized into large macroaggregates (LM, >2 mm), small macroaggregates (SM, 2–0.25 mm), and microaggregates (MI, <0.25 mm) to assess the changes in microbial composition, diversity, network complexity, and network stability within soil aggregates after the afforestation of a former dryland in northwestern China. The results revealed that afforestation enhanced the relative abundance of Actinobacteriota, Chloroflexi, Ascomycota, and Mortierellomycota within the soil aggregates, suggesting that these phyla may have greater advantages in microbial communities post-afforestation. The Shannon–Wiener and Pielou indices for bacterial communities showed no significant differences between land-use types across all aggregate fractions. However, the alpha diversity of fungal communities within the LM and SM significantly increased after afforestation. Bray–Curtis dissimilarity indices showed that afforestation altered bacterial beta diversity within the LM and MI but had a minimal impact on fungal beta diversity across all three aggregate fractions. The topological features of cross-kingdom microbial co-occurrence networks within the soil aggregates generally exhibited a decreasing trend post-afforestation, indicating a simplification of microbial community structure. The reduced robustness of microbial networks within the LM and SM fractions implies that afforestation also destabilized the structure of microbial communities within the macroaggregates. The composition of the soil microbial communities correlated closely with soil carbon and nitrogen contents, especially within the two macroaggregate fractions. The linkages suggests that improved resource conditions could be a key driver behind the shifts in microbial communities within soil aggregates following afforestation. Our findings indicate that the impact of afforestation on soil microbial ecology can be better understood by soil aggregate fractionation.

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Effects of microtopography on soil microbial communities in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Cited by 3 publications

References 75 publications

Effects of Microtopography on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Abundance in Permafrost Peatlands

Effects of Microtopography on Soil Microbial Community Structure and Abundance in Permafrost Peatlands

Soil ecological stoichiometry in varied micro-topographies of an alluvial fan at eastern Helan Mountains, Northwest China

Aggregate Size Mediated the Changes in Soil Microbial Communities After the Afforestation of a Former Dryland in Northwestern China

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