Open AccessLand coverage influences the bacterial community composition in the critical zone of a sub‐Arctic basaltic environment
Author(s) -
Summers Stephen,
Whiteley Andrew S.,
Kelly Laura C.,
Cockell Charles S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6941.12167
Subject(s) - acidobacteria , biology , betaproteobacteria , proteobacteria , ecology , verrucomicrobia , soil water , ecosystem , botany , actinobacteria , 16s ribosomal rna , bacteria , genetics
Silicate weathering improves soils by releasing bioessential nutrients from the bedrock to the soil ecosystem. However, whether bacteria are capable of inhabiting subsurface critical zones (zone of active rock weathering), and their role therein, are unknown. Next‐generation sequencing and community fingerprinting permitted us to characterize communities from an Icelandic critical zone environment. Communities were compared with respect to physico‐chemical properties of the environment to determine the factors influencing bacterial diversity. We showed that land coverage influenced critical zone communities. Analysis of tree‐covered site ( TCS ) soils exhibited high cell densities ( TCS = 2.25 × 10 7 g −1 ), whereas lichen‐ and moss‐covered sites ( LMS ) had lower cell densities ( LMS = 1.06 × 10 7 cells g −1 ), thought to be a result of the organic carbon produced by the trees. Differences in the bacterial community were observed from the abundance of 16S rRNA gene sequences affiliated with A cidobacteria and P roteobacteria , with TCS possessing higher abundances of P roteobacteria [no of sequences: LMS = 1526 (±497); TCS = 2214 (±531)], specifically Alpha‐ and B etaproteobacteria , and lower A cidobacteria numbers [no of sequences: LMS = 1244 (±338); TCS = 598 (±140)]. Diversity indices and 16S rRNA gene rarefaction showed that communities from TCS soils had lower α‐diversity than sites without, indicative of specialized communities at sites with root‐forming plants.