Abstract
Purpose
Species differences in plant traits have been critical for a mechanistic understanding of the distribution of soil microbial communities, but less attention has been placed on the role of trait variation within species. Here, we tested the importance of intraspecific variation in the above- and belowground traits in explaining soil bacterial diversity and community composition.
Methods
We conducted a field survey across two kinds of salt marshes (Spartina alterniflora and Phragmites australis) along China’s coastal wetlands to examine whether intraspecific variation in above- and belowground traits influences the soil bacterial diversity and community composition.
Results
We found that after accounting for the effects of climatic, spatial, and soil factors, intraspecific variation in aboveground traits significantly predicted a unique portion of the variation in soil bacterial community composition (S. alterniflora: 1.8%; P. australis: 1.8%) but did not affect bacterial diversity. Belowground traits significantly affected bacterial diversity (S. alterniflora: 9.4% Shannon index and 3.1% OTU richness; P. australis: 2.1% Shannon index and 4.1% OTU richness), but their effects on community composition were weak. Structural equation models further showed that aboveground traits (e.g., stem height and leaf biomass) exerted stronger effects on bacterial community composition, while belowground traits (e.g., root biomass, root nitrogen concentration, and rhizome carbon concentration) had stronger effects on bacterial diversity.
Conclusion
Our findings provide empirical evidence that intraspecific trait variation affects soil microbial diversity and community composition, highlighting the need to integrate intraspecific trait variation for a more predictive understanding of belowground biodiversity and ecosystem processes.
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Availability of data and material
Sequence data are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) SRA database (SRA BioProject: PRJNA687908) and the National Omics Data Encyclopedia (NODE, http://www.biosino.org/node) under accession number OEP000745. Representative sequences were uploaded to GenBank linked with SRA BioProject.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Yuanzhan Liu, Bingkui Huang, Junyu Zou, Lianghao Pan, Songshuo Li, and Yan Zhang for their help with field sampling and laboratory measurements. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2600102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91951112, 32030067, and 41630528), the Program of Shanghai Academic/Technology Research Leader (21XD1420700), the “Shuguang Program” supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (21SG02), and the Science and Technology Department of Shanghai (21TQ004 and 21DZ1201902).
Funding
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2600102), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91951112, 32030067, and 41630528), the Program of Shanghai Academic/Technology Research Leader (21XD1420700), the “Shuguang Program” supported by Shanghai Education Development Foundation and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (21SG02), and the Science and Technology Department of Shanghai (21TQ004 and 21DZ1201902).
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M.N. designed the study; H.L. conducted field and laboratory work with assistance from T.Z., X.X., J.Y., and C.Z.; H.L. conducted statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript with contributions from all coauthors.
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Liu, H., Zhu, T., Xu, X. et al. The relative importance of intraspecific variation in above- and belowground plant traits in shaping salt marsh soil bacterial diversity and composition. Plant Soil 474, 125–140 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05320-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05320-9