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Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum L.) frond biomass and rhizosphere microbial community characteristics are correlated to edaphic factors

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Abstract

Bracken is a broadly distributed weedy fern common in disturbed habitats. Frond and rhizosphere soil samples were obtained from bracken growing in three clearcut locations in the Willamette National Forest in western Oregon. The highest frond biomass was correlated with soil having the highest total %N, lowest Fe content and oldest geological age. Based on analysis of variance of principal component scores for patterns of utilization of substrates on Biolog GN plates, metabolic profiles of rhizosphere microbial communities of bracken differed significantly between locations. Utilization of carbohydrates and phosphorylated compounds was positively correlated with organic matter (OM) and total N and negatively correlated with extractable Fe and Mn content of soil. Carboxylic acid utilization was positively correlated with pH and OM and negatively correlated with extractable Mn and P content of soils. Pseudomonas rDNA fingerprints of bracken rhizosphere samples suggested that the diversity of pseudomonads at the location with the most acidic (pH 5.5) soil (Burnside Road) differed from those at less acidic (pH 6.2 and 6.1) locations (Falls Creek and Toad Road). Mycorrhizal infection of bracken was lowest at Falls Creek, the location with the highest %N soil content. Our results suggest that bracken frond biomass and rhizosphere microbial community characteristics are correlated with local edaphic factors such as soil chemistry and geological age.

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Author notes

  1. George Di Giovanni

    Present address: El Paso Agricultural Research & Extension Center, Texas A&M University, El Paso, TX, 79927, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Ecology Division, 200 SW 35th Street, U. S. E. P. A.,National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Lidia S. Watrud, Tamotsu Shiroyama, Mark G. Johnson, L. Arlene Porteous & E. Henry Lee

  2. National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, Dynamac Corporation, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Sharon Maggard & Katherine K. Donegan

  3. Western Ecology Division, National Asian Pacific Center on Aging,National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    Clarace G. Coleman

  4. Natl. Res. Council, U. S. E. P. A.National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Western Ecology Division, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR, 97333, USA

    George Di Giovanni

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  1. Lidia S. Watrud
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Correspondence to Lidia S. Watrud.

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Watrud, L.S., Maggard, S., Shiroyama, T. et al. Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum L.) frond biomass and rhizosphere microbial community characteristics are correlated to edaphic factors. Plant and Soil 249, 359–371 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022885100254

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