Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of disturbance scale on soil microbial communities in the Western Cascades of Oregon

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

To gain a better understanding of how rapidly microbial communities respond to different magnitudes of perturbation that mimic minor or catastrophic disturbances.

Methods

Two montane sites in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon with adjacent areas of forest and meadow vegetation were studied. A reciprocal transplant experiment evaluated both minor (soil cores remaining in the same vegetation type) or more severe disturbance (soil cores transferred to a different vegetation type). The biomass and composition of the bacterial and fungal communities were measured for 2 years following the establishment of the experiment.

Results

Minor disturbance (coring) had little impact on microbial biomass but transferring between vegetation type showed greater fungal biomass in soil incubated in the forest environment. The composition of bacterial communities was not influenced by coring but responded strongly to transfers between vegetation sites, changing to reflect their new environment after 2 years. Fungal community composition responded somewhat to coring, probably from disrupting mycorrhizal fungal hyphae, but more strongly to being transferred to a new environment.

Conclusions

The response of the microbial community to major disturbance was rapid, showing shifts reflective of their new environment within 2 years, suggesting that microbial communities have the capacity to quickly adjust to catastrophic disturbances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agee JK (1993) Fire ecology of Pacific Northwest forests. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison SD, Martiny JBH (2008) Resistance, resilience, and redundancy in microbial communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:11512–11519

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amman RI, Krumholz L, Stahl DA (1990) Fluorescent-oligonucleotide probing of whole cells for determinative, phylogenetic, and environmental studies in microbiology. J Bacteriol 172:762–770

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayres E, Steltzer H, Simmons BL, Simpson RT, Steinweg JM, Wallenstein MD, Mellor N, Parton WJ, Moore JC, Wall DH (2009) Home-field advantage accelerates leaf litter decomposition in forests. Soil Biol Biochem 41:606–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Babiuk LA, Paul EA (1970) The use of flourescein isothiocyanate in the determination of the bacterial biomass of grassland soil. Can J Microbiol 16:57–62

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Balser TC, Firestone MK (2005) Linking microbial community composition and soil processes in a California annual grassland and mixed-conifer forest. Biogeochemistry 73:395–415

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bottomley PJ, Taylor AE, Boyle SA, McMahon SK, Rich JJ, Cromack K Jr, Myrold DD (2004) Responses of nitrification and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to reciprocal transfers of soil between adjacent coniferous forest and meadow vegetation in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Microb Ecol 48:500–508

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bottomley PJ, Yarwood RR, Kageyama SA, Waterstrip KE, Williams MA, Cromack K Jr, Myrold DD (2006) Responses of soil bacterial and fungal communities to reciprocal transfers of soil between adjacent coniferous forest and meadow vegetation in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Plant Soil 289:35–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boyle SA, Rich JJ, Bottomley PJ, Cromack K Jr, Myrold DD (2006) Disturbance effects on denitrifying community composition and activity at forest and meadow sites in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Soil Biol Biochem 38:870–878

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brant JB, Myrold DD, Sulzman EW (2006) Root controls on soil microbial community structure in forest soils. Oecologia 148:650–659

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Budge K, Leifeld J, Egli M, Fuhrer J (2011) Soil microbial communities in (sub)alpine grasslands indicate a moderate shift towards new environmental conditions 11 years after soil translocation. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1148–1154

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caporaso JG, Lauber CL, Walters WA, Berg-Lyons D, Huntley J, Fierer N, Owens SM, Betley J, Fraser L, Bauer M, Gormley N, Gilbert JA, Smith G, Knight R (2012) Ultra-high-throughput microbial community analysis on the Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq platforms. ISME J 6:1621–1624

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carmonsini N, Devito KJ, Prepas EE (2003) Net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in trembling aspen forest soils on the Boreal Plain. Can J For Res 33:2262–2268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaer GM, Fernandes MF, Myrold DD, Bottomley PJ (2009) Shifts in microbial community composition and physiological profiles across a gradient of induced soil degradation. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73:1327–1334

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen DM, Zhou LX, Wu JP, Hsu JN, Lin YB, Fu SL (2012) Tree girdling affects the soil microbial community by modifying resource availability in two subtropical plantations. Appl Soil Ecol 53:108–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clein JS, Schimel JP (1995) Nitrogen turnover and availability during succession from alder to poplar in Alaskan taiga forests. Soil Biol Biochem 27:743–752

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Denslow JS (1985) Disturbance-mediated coexistence of species. In: Pickett STA, White PS (eds) The ecology of natural disturbances and patch dynamics. Academic Press, Inc., New York, pp 307–323

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Franklin JF, Halpern CB (2000) Pacific Northwest Forests. In: Barbour MG, Billings WD (eds) North American terrestrial vegetation, 2nd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 123–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Friese CF, Morris SF, Allen MF (1997) Disturbance in natural ecosystems: scaling from fungal diversity to ecosystem functioning. In: Wicklow DT, Söderström BE (eds) The Mycota IV: environmental and microbial relationships, vol IV. Springer, Berlin, pp 47–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Funk JL (2005) Hedychium gardnerianum invasion into Hawaiian montane rainforest: interactions among litter quality, decomposition rate, and soil nitrogen availability. Biogeochemistry 76:441–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardes M, Bruns TD (1993) ITS primers for enhanced specificity for basidiomycetes—application to the identification of mycorrhizae and rusts. Mol Ecol 2:113–118

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hagerman SM, Jones MD, Bradfield GE, Gillespie M, Durall DM (1999) Effects of clear-cut logging on the diversity and persistence of ectomycorrhizae at a subalpine forest. Can J For Res 29:124–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halpern CB, Antos JA, Rice JM, Haugo RD, Lang NL (2010) Tree invasion of a montane meadow complex: temporal trends, spatial patterns, and biotic interactions. J Veg Sci 21:717–732

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannam KD, Quideau SA, Kishchuk BE (2007) The microbial communities of aspen and spruce forest floors are resistant to changes in litter inputs and microclimate. Appl Soil Ecol 35:635–647

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart SC, Perry DA (1999) Transferring soils from high- to low-elevation forests increases nitrogen cycling rates: climate change implications. Glob Chang Biol 5:23–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey AE, Jurgensen MF, Larsen MJ (1980) Clearcut harvesting and ectomycorrhizae: survival of activity on residual roots and influence on a bordering forest stand in Western Montana. Can J For Res 10:300–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugo RD, Halpern CB, Bakker JD (2011) Landscape context and long-term tree influences shape the dynamics of forest-meadow ecotones in mountain landscapes. Ecosphere 2:art91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickman JC (1976) Non-forest vegetation of the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Northwest Sci 50:145–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Hicks RE, Amann RI, Stahl DA (1992) Dual staining of natural bacterioplankton with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and fluorescent oligonucleotide probes targeting kingdom-level 16S rRNA sequences. Appl Environ Microbiol 58:2158–2163

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Högberg MN, Högberg P, Myrold DD (2007) Is microbial community composition in boreal forest soils determined by pH, C-to-N ratio, the trees, or all three? Oecologia 150:590–601

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ingham ER, Klein DA (1984) Soil fungi: measurement of hyphal length. Soil Biol Biochem 16:279–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingham ER, Griffiths RP, Cromack K, Entry JA (1991) Comparison of direct vs fumigation incubation microbial biomass estimates from ectomycorrhizal mat and non-mat soils. Soil Biol Biochem 23:465–471

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonasson S, Havström M, Jensen M, Callaghan TV (1993) In situ mineralization of nitrogen and phosphorus of arctic soils after perturbations simulating climate change. Oecologia 95:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones MD, Durall DM, Cairney JWG (2003) Ectomycorrhizal fungal communities in young forest stands regenerating after clearcut logging. New Phytol 157:399–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kageyama SA, Ritchie NR, Waterstripe KE, Jones SJ, Bottomley PJ, Cromack K Jr, Myrold DD (2008) Fungal and bacterial communities across meadow-forest ecotones in the western Cascades of Oregon. Can J For Res 38:1053–1060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzaro A, Gauer A, Zeyer J (2011) Field-scale transplantation experiment to investigate structures of soil bacterial communities in pioneering sites. Appl Environ Microbiol 77:8241–8248

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Link SO, Smith JL, Halvorson JJ, Bolton H (2003) A reciprocal transplant experiment within a climatic gradient in a semiarid shrub-steppe ecosystem: effects on bunchgrass growth and reproduction, soil carbon, and soil nitrogen. Glob Chang Biol 9:1097–1105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson DA, Schmidt SK (2004) Seasonal changes in an alpine soil bacterial community in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:2867–2879

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matson PA, Vitousek PM (1981) Nitrogen mineralization and nitification potentials following clearcutting in the Hoosier National Forest, Indiana. Forest Sci 27:781–791

    Google Scholar 

  • McCune B, Grace JB (2002) Analysis of Ecological Communities. MJM Software Design, Gleneden Beach

  • Miller EA, Halpern CB (1998) Effects of environment and grazing disturbance on tree establishment in meadows of the central Cascade Range, Oregon, USA. J Veg Sci 9:265–282

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mills DK, Entry JA, Gillevet PM, Mathee K (2007) Assessing microbial community diversity using amplicon length heterogeneity polymerase chain reaction. Soil Sci Soc Am J 71:572–578

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mintie AT, Heichen RS, Cromack K Jr, Myrold DD, Bottomley PJ (2003) Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria along meadow-to-forest transects in the Oregon Cascade Mountains. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:3129–3136

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Perry DA, Molina R, Amaranthus MP (1987) Mycorrhizae, mycorrhizospheres, and reforestation: current knowledge and research needs. Can J For Res 17:929–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platt WJ, Connell JH (2003) Natural disturbances and directional replacement of species. Ecol Monogr 73:507–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prescott CE, Hope GD, Blevins LL (2003) Effect of gap size on litter decomposition and soil nitrate concentrations in a high-elevation spruce-fir forest. Can J For Res 33:2210–2220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasche F, Knapp D, Kaiser C, Koranda M, Kitzler B, Zechmeister-Boltenstern S, Richter A, Sessitsch A (2011) Seasonality and resource availability control bacterial and archaeal communities in soils of a temperate beech forest. ISME J 5:389–402

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reed HE, Martiny JBH (2007) Testing the functional significance of microbial composition in natural communities. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 62:161–170

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rich JJ, Heichen RS, Bottomley PJ, Jr C, Myrold DD (2003) Community composition and functioning of denitrifying bacteria from adjacent meadow and forest soils. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:5974–5982

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie NJ, Schutter ME, Dick RP, Myrold DD (2000) Use of length heterogeneity PCR and fatty acid methyl ester profiles to characterize microbial communities in soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:1668–1675

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Roesch LF, Fulthorpe RR, Riva A, Casella G, Hadwin AKM, Kent AD, Daroub SH, Camargo FAO, Farmerie WG, Triplett EW (2007) Pyrosequencing enumerates and contrasts soil microbial diversity. ISME J 1:283–290

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • St. John MG, Orwin KH, Dickie IA (2011) No ‘home’ versus ‘away’ effects of decomposition found in a grassland-forest reciprocal litter transplant study. Soil Biol Biochem 43:1482–1489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland MS, Osburn E, Lauber C, Fierer N, Bradford MA (2009) Litter quality is in the eye of the beholder: initial decomposition rates as a function of inoculum characteristics. Funct Ecol 23:627–636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner MG, Baker WL, Peterson CJ, Peet RK (1998) Factors influencing succession: lessons from large, infrequent natural disturbances. Ecosystems 1:511–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanhala P, Karhu K, Tuomi M, Bjorklof K, Fritze H, Hyvarinen H, Liski J (2011) Transplantation of organic surface horizons of boreal soils into warmer regions alters microbiology but not the temperature sensitivity of decomposition. Glob Chang Biol 17:538–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldrop MP, Firestone MK (2006) Response of microbial community composition and function to soil climate change. Microb Ecol 52:716–724

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wallander H, Nilsson LO, Hagerberg D, Bååth E (2001) Estimation of the biomass and seasonal growth of external mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the field. New Phytol 151:753–760

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor JW (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninksky JJ, White TJ (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic, New York, pp 315–322

    Google Scholar 

  • Yarwood SA, Myrold DD, Högberg MN (2009) Termination of belowground C allocation by trees alters soil fungal and bacterial communities in a boreal forest. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 70:151–162

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zak JC (1992) Response of soil fungal communities to disturbance. In: Carroll GC, Wicklow DT (eds) The fungal community: its organization and role in the ecosystem, 2nd edn. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, pp 403–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Zald HSJ, Spies TA, Huso M, Gatziolis D (2012) Climatic, landform, microtopographic, and overstory canopy controls of tree invasion in a subalpine meadow landscape, Oregon Cascades, USA. Landsc Ecol 27:1197–1212

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Support for this work was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation Microbial Observatory Program (MCB-9977933 and MCB-0348689) and by the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station. We acknowledge the NSF Long-term Ecological Research program for infrastructure support at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Numerous present and past members of our laboratory assisted in site establishment, soil sampling, and generation of supporting data. We thank the staff of the Core Labs of the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing for their help and guidance with Gene Scan analyses. The insights provided by the reviewers and editor helped us to improve the final product.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Laboratory, 243 Fort Keogh Road, Miles City, MT, 59301, USA

    Stacie A. Kageyama

  2. The Mannik & Smith Group, Inc., 234 Midtown Dr., Traverse City, MI, 49684, USA

    Nancy R. Posavatz

  3. Oregon Department of Agriculture, 635 Capitol Street NE, Salem, OR, 97301, USA

    Sarah S. Jones

  4. Biology Program, Health Science Building HS111A ML, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI, 49686, USA

    Kirk E. Waterstripe

  5. Departments of Microbiology and Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Agriculture and Life Sciences Building 3017, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Peter J. Bottomley

  6. Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Kermit Cromack Jr.

  7. Department of Crop and Soil Science, Oregon State University, Agriculture and Life Sciences Building 3017, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    David D. Myrold

Authors
  1. Stacie A. Kageyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nancy R. Posavatz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sarah S. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kirk E. Waterstripe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Peter J. Bottomley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Kermit Cromack Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. David D. Myrold
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David D. Myrold.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplemental Table 1

(DOC 46 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kageyama, S.A., Posavatz, N.R., Jones, S.S. et al. Effects of disturbance scale on soil microbial communities in the Western Cascades of Oregon. Plant Soil 372, 459–471 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1760-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1760-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation