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Shifts of archaeal community structure in soil along an elevation gradient in a reservoir water level fluctuation zone

Journal of Soils and Sediments volume 16, pages 2728–2739 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Although archaea play an important role in nutrients cycling, the archaeal community in a reservoir water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) remains unclear. An elucidation of archaeal community responding to the environmental variables is essential to understand the nutrients dynamics in WLFZ. This study focused on the response of the archaeal community structure and abundance to the periodic water flooding along an elevation gradient in the WLFZ of the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Materials and methods

Along the elevation gradient (152–175 m) of the study area, soil samples in the beginning and late stages of water flooding were collected to investigate the influence of water flooding on the archaeal community in soil, using quantitative PCR and Illumina high-throughput sequencing approaches.

Results and discussion

An increase of archaeal abundance from 3.8 × 108 to 3.8 × 109 copies (g d.w.s)−1 on average was observed after water flooding. The archaeal abundance was positively correlated with the contents of ammonium, organic matter, and moisture in soil and with the accumulated flooding time. Higher diversity was observed in dry samples (non-flooded soil samples) rather than wet samples (flooded soil samples). The Thaumarchaeota were predominant in most of the dry samples. Interestingly, high proportions of Candidatus Nitrososphaera were observed in the transition zone, while euryarchaeotal methanogens dominated the wet samples. The proportion of methanogens decreased dramatically in the dry samples at higher elevations, which was associated with the decrease of the moisture content and the probably increase of available oxygen in soil.

Conclusions

Archaeal abundance, diversity, and community composition shifted along an elevation gradient and were influenced by water flooding. The increased archaea abundance after water flooding and elevation related community composition and diversity indicated that water flooding was a key dynamic environmental variable in the WLFZ.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [41303053, 31300025, 41401051], Fundamental and Frontier Research Project of Chongqing [cstc2013jcyjA20003], and West Light Foundation and West China Action Plan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences [KZCX2-XB3-14-01]

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China

    Fei Ye, Shengjun Wu, Yi Jiang, Zhe Li & Yu Wang

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Fei Ye

  3. Department of Microbiology, IWWR, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, 6525 AJ, The Netherlands

    Huub J. M. Op den Camp

  4. Key Laboratory of Drinking Water Science and Technology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Guibing Zhu

  5. China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center, Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, Beijing, 100035, China

    Jun Zheng

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  1. Fei Ye
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Correspondence to Yu Wang.

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Ye, F., Wu, S., Jiang, Y. et al. Shifts of archaeal community structure in soil along an elevation gradient in a reservoir water level fluctuation zone. J Soils Sediments 16, 2728–2739 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1485-3

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