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Soil microbial response following wildfires in thermic oak-pine forests

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Abstract

The ecosystem response to wildfire is often linked to fire severity, with potentially large consequences for belowground biogeochemistry and microbial processes. While the impacts of wildfire on belowground processes are generally well documented, it remains unclear how fire affects the fine-scale composition of microbial communities. Here, we investigate the composition of soil bacterial and fungal communities in burned and unburned forests in an attempt to better understand how these diverse communities respond to wildfire. We explored the belowground responses to three wildfires in Linville Gorge, NC, USA. Wildfires generally increased soil carbon content while simultaneously reducing soil respiration. We employed amplicon sequencing to describe soil microbial communities and found that fires decreased both bacterial and fungal diversity. In addition, wildfires resulted in significant shifts in both bacterial and fungal community composition. Bacterial phylum-level distributions in response to fire were mixed without clear patterns, with members of Acidobacteria being representative of both burned and unburned sites. Fungal communities showed consistent increases in Ascomycota dominance and concurrent decreases in Basidiomycota and Zygomycota dominance in response to burning. Indicator species analysis confirmed shift to Ascomycota in burned sites. These shifts in microbial communities may reflect differences in the quality and quantity of soil organic matter following wildfires.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Cratis D. Williams Graduate School, the Appalachian State University Biology Department, and the Grandfather Ranger district of the U.S.D.A Forest Service.

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  1. Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, 28608, USA

    Michael S. Huffman & Michael D. Madritch

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  1. Michael S. Huffman
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Correspondence to Michael D. Madritch.

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Huffman, M.S., Madritch, M.D. Soil microbial response following wildfires in thermic oak-pine forests. Biol Fertil Soils 54, 985–997 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-018-1322-5

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