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Primary succession of soil enzyme activity and heterotrophic microbial communities along the chronosequence of Tianshan Mountains No. 1 Glacier, China

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Abstract

We investigated the primary successions of soil enzyme activity and heterotrophic microbial communities at the forefields of the Tianshan Mountains No. 1 Glacier by investigating soil microbial processes (microbial biomass and nitrogen mineralization), enzyme activity and community-level physiological profiling. Soils deglaciated between 1959 and 2008 (0, 5, 17, 31 and 44 years) were collected. Soils >1,500 years in age were used as a reference (alpine meadow soils). Soil enzyme activity and carbon-source utilization ability significantly increased with successional time. Amino-acid utilization rates were relatively higher in early, unvegetated soils (0 and 5 years), but carbohydrate utilization was higher in later stages (from 31 years to the reference soil). Discriminant analysis, including data on microbial processes and soil enzyme activities, revealed that newly exposed soils (0–5 years) and older soils (17–44 years) were well-separated from each other and obviously different from the reference soil. Correlation analysis revealed that soil organic carbon, was the primary factor influencing soil enzyme activity and heterotrophic microbial community succession. Redundancy analysis suggested that soil pH and available P were also affect microbial activity to a considerable degree. Our results indicated that glacier foreland soils have continued to develop over 44 years and soils were significantly affected by the geographic location of the glacier and the local topography. Soil enzyme activities and heterotrophic microbial communities were also significantly influenced by these variables.

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Abbreviations

MBC:

Microbial biomass carbon

MBN:

Microbial biomass nitrogen

Ct :

Total carbon

Nt :

Total nitrogen

SOC:

Soil organic carbon

St :

Total sulfur

Pt :

Total phosphorus

Pal :

Available phosphrous

Kal :

Available potassium

Nal :

Available nitrogen

Sat :

Total salt

Ref:

Reference soil

RDA:

Redundancy analysis

AWCD:

The average well colour development

CLPP:

Community-level physiological profiling

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the Open Project of the Key Lab of Microorganisms in Xinjiang Specific Environment (XJYS0203-2011-02), the Natural science foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (2012211B48), and High and new technology project of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (201216141).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microbiology, Xinjiang Academy of Agriculture Science, No. 403, Nanchang Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China

    Jun Zeng, Xiao-xia Wang, Kai Lou, Tao Zhang, Qing Lin, Ying-wu Shi & Hong-mei Yang

  2. Departments of Geotechnical and Environmental Studies, River Research Institute, Faridpur, 7800, Bangladesh

    Moniruzzaman Khan Eusufzai

  3. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China

    Zhong-qing Li

Authors
  1. Jun Zeng
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  2. Xiao-xia Wang
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  3. Kai Lou
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  4. Moniruzzaman Khan Eusufzai
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  5. Tao Zhang
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  6. Qing Lin
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  7. Ying-wu Shi
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  8. Hong-mei Yang
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  9. Zhong-qing Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kai Lou.

Additional information

Jun Zeng and Xiao-xia Wang have contributed equally to this work.

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Zeng, J., Wang, Xx., Lou, K. et al. Primary succession of soil enzyme activity and heterotrophic microbial communities along the chronosequence of Tianshan Mountains No. 1 Glacier, China. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 107, 453–466 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-014-0343-9

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