Abstract
Soil erosion can affect the nature and distribution of soil carbon and nutrients, directly and indirectly influencing microbially facilitated processes of mineralization, ammoniation, and nitrification, thus affecting soil nutrients cycling. However, little is known about how soil erosion affects soil microorganisms. Since 2012, we conducted a modified soil erosion simulation experiment of topsoil removal method in an agricultural field to simulate erosion depths of 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm versus a control (0 cm). The results showed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes were the dominant soil microbial (here: Bacteria and Archaea) phyla, and Acidothermus, Candidatus Solibacter, Acidibacter, Bryobacter, and Actinospica were the dominant genera in all samples. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Thaumarchaeota, Acidothermus, Candidatus Solibacter, Acidibacter, Bryobacter, Actinospica, and Rhodanobacter decreased with the increase of erosion depths, while Chloroflexi and Firmicutes increased with the increase of erosion depths. Soil microbial community structure was altered significantly at 30- and 40-cm soil erosion depth in comparison to control. Soil nutrient variability caused by soil erosion had a greater impact on soil microbial community composition than that of soil mechanical composition. Soil erosion indirectly affected microbial community composition through negative effects on soil available potassium, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and sand content. We thus highlight the importance of soil nutrients monitoring in different soil erosion levels to make the proper ecological restoration strategies to improve soil environment which soil microorganisms depend on.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Prof. Bruijnzeel L.A and Dr. Kathryn B. Piatek for language editing and for their valuable suggestions on the manuscript.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 41867029, 41401614), and co-supported by the Scientific Research Fund of Yunnan Province Department of Education (grant number: 2020Y0027).
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Ruihuan Zhang performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript. Li Rong and Lanlan Zhang helped perform the analysis and participated in constructive discussions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Zhang, ., Rong, . & Zhang, L. Soil nutrient variability mediates the effects of erosion on soil microbial communities: results from a modified topsoil removal method in an agricultural field in Yunnan plateau, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 3659–3671 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15894-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15894-z