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Similar soil microbial community structure across different environments after long‐term succession: evidence from volcanoes of different ages
Author(s) -
Xu Shangqi,
Zhang Jianfeng,
Luo Shasha,
Zhou Xue,
Shi Shaohua,
Tian Chunjie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.201800016
Subject(s) - ecological succession , microbial population biology , species evenness , relative species abundance , species richness , biomass (ecology) , abundance (ecology) , community structure , ecology , biogeochemical cycle , soil biology , biology , volcano , environmental science , agronomy , soil water , bacteria , paleontology , genetics
Soil microbes play critical roles in global biogeochemical cycles, but their succession patterns across long temporal scales have rarely been studied. In this study, soil samples were collected from three volcanoes in Wudalianchi, northeastern China: Laoheishan (LH, approximately 240 years old), Dongjiaodebushan (DJ, 0.45–0.6 million years old), and Nangelaqiushan (NG, 0.8–1.3 million years old). For each volcano, both southern (S) and northern (N) slope aspects were sampled. Soil microbial communities were analyzed using phospholipid fatty acid analysis (PLFA). The results showed that soil properties and microbial biomass changed perceptibly among different volcanoes and different slope aspects. Almost all of the detected soil nutrient contents of LH were lowest, and total microbial biomass of LH was 40 and 36% lower than those of NG and DJ, respectively. LH was significantly different from NG and DJ in soil microbial community structure with a higher relative abundance of fungi and a lower relative abundance of actinomycetes and bacteria. However, for the two ancient volcanoes (NG and DJ), soil microbial community structures were highly similar among different ages and different slope aspects. No difference was detected in any of the measured microbial indices, including richness, evenness, Shannon's diversity, Simpson's diversity and the relative abundance of different microbial groups. The results indicated that while soil microbial biomass may change across different soil environments after long‐term succession, soil microbial community structure can remain relatively stable. The results further indicated that soil microbes may show different successional patterns in different stages of succession.