Herbivore camping reshapes the taxonomy, function and network of pasture soil microbial communities

PeerJ

article

Puchang Wang¹  Leilei Ding²  Fuxiang Li³  Jiafa Liao³  Mengya Wang⁴ 

[1] School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University;Guizhou Institution of Prataculture, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences;Guizhou Weining plateau Grassland Experimental Station;College of Animal Science, Guizhou University

关键词: Fungi;    Bacteria;    Grassland;    Network robustness;    Niche breadth;    Niche overlap;    Camping;    Soil;    Community structure;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.14314

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Although the effects of herbivore camping on soil physicochemical properties have been studied, whether the effects alter the soil microbial communities (e.g., composition, functions, taxonomic and functional diversities, network) remain unknown, especially below the surface. Here, using paired subsoil samples from half month-camping and non-camping, we showed for the first time that camping significantly changed the relative abundance of 21 bacterial phylotypes and five fungal phylotypes. Specifically, we observed significant increases in the relative abundance of putative chitinase and terpenes vanillin-decomposition genes, nitrite reduction function (nirB, nasA), decreases in the relative abundance of putative carbon fixation genes (ackA, PGK, and Pak), starch-decomposition gene (dexB), gene coding nitrogenase (anfG), and tetracycline resistance gene (tetB) for bacterial communities, and significant decreases in the relative abundance of animal endosymbiont and increases in the relative abundance of litter saprotroph and endophyte for fungal communities. However, camping did not significantly impact the taxonomic and functional diversity. The niche restriction was the main driving force of bacterial and fungal community assembly. Compared to no camping, camping increased the stability of bacterial networks but decreased the stability of fungal networks. Camping exerted a positive effect on the network by compressing the niche width and reduced the change in the network by reducing the niche overlap. Our results suggest that camping restructures the soil microbial composition, function, and network, and provides a novel insight into the effect of animal camping on soil microbial communities in grassland.

【 授权许可】

CC BY