Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Drying–Rewetting Cycles Affect Fungal and Bacterial Growth Differently in an Arable Soil

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Drying and rewetting is a frequent physiological stress for soil microbial communities; a stress that is predicted to grow more influential with future climate change. We investigated the effect of repeated drying–rewetting cycles on bacterial (leucine incorporation) and fungal (acetate in ergosterol incorporation) growth, on the biomass concentration and composition (PLFA), and on the soil respiration. Using different plant material amendments, we generated soils with different initial fungal:bacterial compositions that we exposed to 6–10 repetitions of a drying–rewetting cycle. Drying–rewetting decreased bacterial growth while fungal growth remained unaffected, resulting in an elevated fungal:bacterial growth ratio. This effect was found irrespective of the initial fungal:bacterial biomass ratio. Many drying–rewetting cycles did not, however, affect the fungal:bacterial growth ratio compared to few cycles. The biomass response of the microbial community differed from the growth response, with fungal and total biomass only being slightly negatively affected by the repeated drying–rewetting. The discrepancy between growth- and biomass-based assessments underscores that microbial responses to perturbations might previously have been misrepresented with biomass-based assessments. In light of this, many aspects of environmental microbial ecology may need to be revisited with attention to what measure of the microbial community is relevant to study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Anderson JPE, Domsch KH (1978) Physiological method for quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils. Soil Biol Biochem 10:215–221

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bååth E (1994) Measurement of protein synthesis by soil bacterial assemblages with the leucine incorporation technique. Biol Fertil Soils 17:147–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bååth E (2001) Estimation of fungal growth rates using 14C-acetate incorporation into ergosterol. Soil Biol Biochem 33:2011–2018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Bååth E, Anderson TH (2003) Comparison of soil fungal/bacterial ratios in a pH gradient using physiological and PLFA-based techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 35:955–963

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bååth E, Pettersson M, Söderberg KH (2001) Adaptation of a rapid and economical microcentrifugation method to measure thymidine and leucine incorporation by soil bacteria. Soil Biol Biochem 33:1571–1574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Birch HF (1958) The effect of soil drying on humus decomposition and nitrogen. Plant Soil 10:9–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bloem J, de Ruiter PC, Koopman GJ, Lebbing G, Brussaard L (1992) Microbial numbers and activity in dried and rewetted arable soil under integrated and conventional management. Soil Biol Biochem 24:655–665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Butterly CR, Bünemann EK, McNeill AM, Baldock JA, Marschner P (2009) Carbon pulses but not phosphorus pulses are related to decreases in microbial biomass during repeated drying and rewetting of soils. Soil Biol Biochem 41:1406–1416

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Consentino D, Chenu C, Bissonnais YL (2006) Aggregate stability and microbial community dynamics under drying–rewetting cycles in a silt loam soil. Soil Biol Biochem 38:1053–2062

    Google Scholar 

  10. Denef K, Six J, Paustian K, Merckx R (2001) Importance of macroaggregate dynamics in controlling soil carbon stabilization: short-term effects of physical disturbance induced by dry–wet cycles. Soil Biol Biochem 33:2145–2153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Fierer N, Schimel JP (2002) Effects of drying–rewetting frequency on soil carbon and nitrogen transformations. Soil Biol Biochem 34:777–787

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Fierer N, Schimel JP (2003) A proposed mechanism for the pulse in carbon dioxide commonly observed following the rapid rewetting of a dry soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 67:798–805

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Fierer N, Schimel JP, Holden PA (2003) Influence of drying–rewetting frequency on soil bacterial community structure. Microb Ecol 45:63–71

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Frostegård Å, Tunlid A, Bååth E (1993) Phospholipid fatty-acid composition, biomass, and activity of microbial communities from two soil types experimentally exposed to different heavy-metals. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:3605–3617

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Frostegård Å, Bååth E (1996) The use of phospholipid fatty acid analysis to estimate bacterial and fungal biomass in soil. Biol Fertil Soils 22:59–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gordon H, Haygarth PM, Bardgett RD (2008) Drying and rewetting effects on soil microbial community composition and nutrient leaching. Soil Biol Biochem 40:302–311

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Hamer U, Unger M, Makeschin F (2007) Impact of air-drying and rewetting on PLFA profiles of soil microbial communities. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 170:259–264

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Harris RF (1981) Effect of water potential on microbial growth and activity. In: Parr JF, Gardner WR, Elliott LF (eds) Water potential relations in soil microbiology. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI, USA, pp 23–95

    Google Scholar 

  19. Huntington TG (2006) Evidence for intensification of the global water cycle: review and synthesis. J Hydrol 319:83–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Iovieno P, Bååth E (2008) Effect of drying and rewetting on bacterial growth rates in soil. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 65:400–407

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Joergensen RG (2000) Ergosterol and microbial biomass in the rhizosphere of grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 32:647–652

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Kemmitt SJ, Lanyon CV, Waite IS, Wen Q, Addiscott TM, Bird NRA, O'Donnell AG, Brookes PC (2008) Mineralization of native soil organic matter is not regulated by the size, activity or composition of the soil microbial biomass—a new perspective. Soil Biol Biochem 40:61–73

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Kirchman D, K’Nees E, Hodson R (1985) Leucine incorporation and its potential as a measure of protein-synthesis by bacteria in natural aquatic systems. Appl Environ Microbiol 49:599–607

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kirschbaum MUF (1995) The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition, and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage. Soil Biol Biochem 27:753–760

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kirschbaum MUF (2000) Will changes in soil organic carbon act as a positive or negative feedback on global warming? Biogeochemistry 48:21–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Marxsen J, Zoppini A, Wilczek S (2009) Microbial communities in streambed sediments recovering from desiccation. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 71:374–386

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Mikha MM, Rice CW, Milliken GA (2005) Carbon and nitrogen mineralization as affected by drying and wetting cycles. Soil Biol Biochem 37:339–347

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Milly PCD, Wetherald RT, Dunne KA, Delworth TL (2002) Increasing risk of great floods on a changing climate. Nature 415:514–517

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Newell SY, Fallon RD (1991) Toward a method for measuring instantaneous fungal growth rates in field samples. Ecology 72:1547–1559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Nilsson LO, Bååth E, Falkengren-Grerup U, Wallander H (2007) Growth of ectomycorrhizal mycelia and composition of soil microbial communities in oak forest soils along a nitrogen deposition gradient. Oecologia 153:375–384

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Pennanen T, Fritze H, Vanhala P, Kiikkila O, Neuvonen S, Bååth E (1998) Structure of a microbial community in soil after prolonged addition of low levels of simulated acid rain. Appl Environ Microbiol 64:2173–2180

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Pietikäinen J, Pettersson M, Bååth E (2005) Comparison of temperature effects on soil respiration and bacterial and fungal growth rates. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 52:49–58

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Ranneklev S, Bååth E (2003) Use of phospholipid fatty acids to detect previous self-heating events in stored peat. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:3532–3539

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Rousk J, Bååth E (2007) Fungal and bacterial growth in soil with plant materials of different C/N ratios. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 62:258–267

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Rousk J, Aldén Demoling L, Bååth E (2008) Examining the fungal and bacterial niche overlap using selective inhibitors in soil. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 63:350–358

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Rousk J, Brookes PC, Bååth E (2009) Contrasting soil pH effects on fungal and bacterial growth suggest functional redundancy in carbon mineralisation. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:1589–1596

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Rousk J, Brookes PC, Bååth E (2010) Investigating the mechanisms for the opposing pH relationships of fungal and bacterial growth in soil. Soil Biol Biochem 42:926–934

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Ruzicka S, Edgerton D, Norman M, Hill T (2000) The utility of ergosterol as a bioindicator of fungi in temperate soils. Soil Biol Biochem 32:989–1005

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Schimel JP, Scott WJ, Killham K (1989) Changes in cytoplasmic carbon and nitrogen pools in a soil bacterium and a fungus in response to salt stress. Appl Environ Microbiol 55:1635–1637

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Schimel JP, Balser TC, Wallenstein M (2007) Microbial stress-response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology 86:1386–1394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Steenwerth KL, Jackson LE, Calderón FJ, Scow KM, Rolston DE (2005) Response of microbial community composition and activity in agricultural and grassland soils after a simulated rainfall. Soil Biol Biochem 37:2249–2262

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Van Gestel M, Merckx R, Vlassak K (1993) Microbial biomass responses to soil drying and rewetting: the fate of fast- and slow-growing microorganisms in soils from different climates. Soil Biol Biochem 25:109–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Waksman SA, Tenney FG, Stevens KR (1928) The role of microorganisms in the transformation of organic matter in forest soils. Ecology 9:126–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Waksman SA, Gerretsen FC (1931) Influence of temperature and moisture upon the nature and extent of decomposition of plant residues by microorganisms. Ecology 12:33–60

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Williams MA (2007) Response of microbial communities to water stress in irrigated and drought-prone tallgrass prairie soils. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2750–2757

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Wu J, Brookes PC (2005) The proportional mineralisation of microbial biomass and organic matter caused by air-drying and rewetting of a grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 37:507–515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Xiang SR, Doyle A, Holden PA, Schimel JP (2008) Drying and rewetting effects on C and N mineralization and microbial activity in surface and subsurface California grassland soils. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2281–2289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. D.L. Jones for helpful comments on the manuscript. AZ was supported by a grant from the Erasmus Mundus programme, and JR and EB by grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Johannes Rousk

    Present address: School of the Environment, Natural Resources & Geography, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, Islamic Azad University—Savadkooh Branch, P.O. Box: 155, Savadkooh, Mazandaran, Iran

    Azadeh Bapiri

  2. Department of Microbial Ecology, Lund University, 223 62, Lund, Sweden

    Azadeh Bapiri, Erland Bååth & Johannes Rousk

Authors
  1. Azadeh Bapiri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Erland Bååth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Johannes Rousk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes Rousk.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bapiri, A., Bååth, E. & Rousk, J. Drying–Rewetting Cycles Affect Fungal and Bacterial Growth Differently in an Arable Soil. Microb Ecol 60, 419–428 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9723-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9723-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation