Changes in vegetation types affect soil microbial communities in tropical islands of southern China

Global Ecology and Conservation

Taiki Mori¹  Andi Li¹  Xiangping Tan¹  Shuguang Jian¹  Shun Zou²  Petr Heděnec³  Yijing Zhu³  Haifeng Zheng⁴  Wei Zhang⁵  Weiren Wang⁵  Senhao Wang⁵  Nan Liu⁵  Jiangming Mo⁵  Zhanfeng Liu⁵ 

[1] College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;Department of Forest Site Environment, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Matsunosato 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–8687, Japan;Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark;Guizhou University of Engineering Science, Bijie 551700, China;Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, and Engineering Laboratory for Vegetation Ecosystem Restoration on Islands and Coastal Zones, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China;

关键词: Coral islands;    Plant communities;    Soil microbial groups;    PLFA;    Stress indicator;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Soil microbial communities are the key drivers of nutrient cycling in ecosystems. However, the functional response of soil microbial community composition to contrasting vegetation types in tropical coral islands is still unclear. Tropical coral islands provide a unique, extreme habitat characterized by higher soil pH and P, but lower N and soil water contents. To determine the responses of soil microbial communities to changes in vegetation types, soil microbial biomass and community composition were investigated by determination of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) under three vegetation types (including tree, shrub, and herb-vine) on Dong Island and Yongxing Island of southern China. Redundancy analysis (RDA) has been used to determine the driving factors (soil properties) for shaping soil microbial community composition. The results showed that the total biomass of PLFAs, as well as the specific microbial taxa [such as bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria (G+), Gram-negative bacteria (G-), fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and actinomycetes] increased in the soils from herb-vine via shrub to tree. Furthermore, along the above vegetation types gradient, the ratios of Gram-positive to Gram-negative bacteria (G+:G-), total saturated to total monounsaturated fatty acids (sat:mono), and fungi to bacteria (F:B) ratio decreased, indicating a shift in soil microbial community towards lower stress and copiotrophic dominance. Our findings indicate that soil microbial groups have a sensitive response to shifting plant communities in tropical coral islands, and soil water content, the ratios of soil organic matter and N content to P content, and soil pH might be the critical drivers of microbial community composition and structure in the study region.

【 授权许可】

Unknown