Open AccessBacterial community in alpine grasslands along an altitudinal gradient on the T ibetan P lateau
Author(s) -
Yuan Yanli,
Si Guicai,
Wang Jian,
Luo Tianxiang,
Zhang Gengxin
Publication year - 2014
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 - 10.1111/1574-6941.12197
Subject(s) - plateau (mathematics) , acidobacteria , terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism , ecosystem , arid , ecology , precipitation , biology , microbial population biology , soil ph , gradient analysis , environmental science , ecological succession , soil water , proteobacteria , restriction fragment length polymorphism , geography , bacteria , polymerase chain reaction , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , mathematics , 16s ribosomal rna , meteorology , gene , genetics
The Tibetan Plateau, ‘the third pole’, is a region that is very sensitive to climate change. A better understanding of response of soil microorganisms to climate warming is important to predict soil organic matter preservation in future scenario. We selected a typically altitudinal gradient (4400 m–5200 m a.s.l) along south‐facing slope of N yainqentanglha M ountains on central T ibetan P lateau. Bacterial communities were investigated using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis ( T ‐ RFLP ) combined with sequencing methods. A cidobacteria and P roteobacteria were dominant bacteria in this alpine soil. Redundancy analysis revealed that soil bacterial communities were significantly different along the large altitudinal gradient, although the dominant environmental driving factors varied at different soil depth. Specifically, our results showed that precipitation and soilNH 4+were dominant environmental factors that influence bacterial communities at 0–5 cm depth along the altitudinal gradients, whereas p H was a major influential factor at 5–20 cm soil. In this semi‐arid region, precipitation rather than temperature was a main driving force on soil bacterial communities as well as on plant communities. We speculate that an increase in temperature might not significantly change soil bacterial community structures along the large altitudinal gradient, whereas precipitation change would play a more important role in affecting soil bacterial communities.