Environmental Stresses Constrain Soil Microbial Community Functions by Regulating Deterministic Assembly and Niche Width
Molecular Ecology, vol. 34, pp. e70096
Abstract
Increasing evidence indicates that the loss of soil microbial α-diversity triggered by environmental stress negatively impacts microbial functions; however, the effects of microbial α-diversity on community functions under environmental stress are poorly understood. Here, we investigated the changes in bacterial and fungal α- diversity along gradients of five natural stressors (temperature, precipitation, plant diversity, soil organic C and pH) across 45 grasslands in China and evaluated their connection with microbial functional traits. By quantifying the five environmental stresses into an integrated stress index, we found that the bacterial and fungal α-diversity declined under high environmental stress across three soil layers (0-20 cm, 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm). Metagenomic-based analyses showed that the diversity of functional genes decreased along the stress gradients. High stress enhanced the abundance of genes associated with broad functional categories (e.g., glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, TCA cycle, DNA replication/repair and cell growth/death) but reduced the abundance of genes linked to specialised functional categories (e.g., C, N, S and methane metabolism). Phylogenetic null models and niche analyses indicated that stochastic assembly processes predominated in high-diversity communities, in which bacterial and fungal taxa had a narrow ecological niche. However, in low-diversity communities, deterministic assembly processes were dominant, and taxa had wide niches, correlating with the reduction in gene abundance observed for broad and specialised functional categories. Given the essential role of the microbiome in regulating ecosystem functions, our findings suggest that low-diversity-induced deterministic community assembly processes and a wide niche under high environmental stress may regulate microbial functions. These findings emphasise the ecological mechanisms through which microbial biodiversity regulates terrestrial ecosystem functioning.
Authors 7
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Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Soil and Water Conservation · Northwest A&F University
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Chinese Academy of Science Shaanxi People's Republic of China
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Control, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering Northwest A&F University Shaanxi People's Republic of China
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Affiliation as printed
College of Forestry Guizhou University Guiyang People's Republic of China
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Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Earth Environment · State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology
Affiliation as printed
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment Chinese Academy of Sciences Xi'an China
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Biology Leiden University Leiden the Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
College of Natural Resources and Environment Northwest A&F University Shaanxi People's Republic of China
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Affiliation as printed
Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Center of Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science University of Vienna Vienna Austria
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Guobin Liu corresponding
Chinese Academy of Sciences · Institute of Soil and Water Conservation · Northwest A&F University
Affiliation as printed
Institute of Soil and Water Conservation Chinese Academy of Science Shaanxi People's Republic of China
State Key Laboratory of Soil and Water Conservation and Desertification Control, College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering Northwest A&F University Shaanxi People's Republic of China
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