Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Soil microbial abundance and community structure vary with altitude and season in the coniferous forests, China

  • 2015 International Symposium on Forest Soils
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Soil microbes control the bioelement cycles and energy transformation in forest ecosystems, and are sensitive to environmental change. As yet, the effects of altitude and season on soil microbes remain unknown. A 560 m vertical transitional zone was selected along an altitude gradient from 3023, 3298 and 3582 m, to determine the potential effects of seasonal freeze-thaw on soil microbial community.

Materials and methods

Soil samples were collected from the three elevations in the growing season (GS), onset of freezing period (FP), deeply frozen period (FPD), thawing period (TP), and later thawing period (TPL), respectively. Real-time qPCR and polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) were used to measure the abundance and structure of soil microbial community.

Results and discussion

The bacterial, archaeal, and fungal ribosomal DNA (rDNA) copy numbers decreased from GS to freezing stage (FP and FPD) and then increased in thawing stage (TP and TPL). Similarly, the diversity of microbial community varied with seasonal freeze-thaw processes. The diversity index (H) of the bacterial and archaeal communities decreased from GS to FP and then increased to TPL. The fungal community H index increased in the freezing process.

Conclusions

Our results suggested that abundance and structure of soil microbial community in the Tibetan coniferous forests varied by season and bacterial and archaeal communities respond more promptly to seasonal freeze-thaw processes relative to fungal community. This may have important implications for carbon and nutrient cycles in alpine forest ecosystems. Accordingly, future warming-induced changes in seasonal freeze-thaw patterns would affect soil nutrient cycles via altering soil microbial properties.

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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auguet JC, Nomokonova N, Camarero L, Casamayor EO (2011) Seasonal changes of freshwater ammonia-oxidizing archaeal assemblages and nitrogen species in oligotrophic alpine lakes. Appl Environ Microbiol 77:1937–1945

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bardgett RD, Freeman C, Ostle NJ (2008) Microbial contributions to climate change through carbon cycle feedbacks. ISME J 2:805–814

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bell T, Ager D, Song JI, Newman JA, Thompson IP, Lilley AK, Van der Gast CJ (2005) Larger islands house more bacterial taxa. Science 308:1884–1884

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boer W, Folman LB, Summerbell RC, Boddy L (2005) Living in a fungal world: impact of fungi on soil bacterial niche development. FEMS Microbiol Rev 29:795–811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cavicchioli R (2006) Cold-adapted archaea. Nat Rev Micro 4:331–343

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cavicchioli R, Thomas T, Curmi PMG (2000) Cold stress response in archaea. Extremophiles 4:321–331

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clein JS, Schimel JP (1995) Microbial activity of tundra and taiga soils at sub-zero temperatures. Soil Biol Biochem 27:1231–1234

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Drotz SH, Sparrman T, Nilsson MB, Schleucher J, Öquist MG (2010) Both catabolic and anabolic heterotrophic microbial activity proceed in frozen soils. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 107:21046–21051

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards A, Cresser M (1992) Freezing and its effect on chemical and biological properties of soil. In: Stewart BA (ed) Advances in soil science. Springer, New York, pp. 59–79

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards AC, Scalenghe R, Freppaz M (2007) Changes in the seasonal snow cover of alpine regions and its effect on soil processes: a review. Quatern Int 162-163:172–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eichner CA, Erb RW, Timmis KN, Wagner-Döbler I (1999) Thermal gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of bioprotection from pollutant shocks in the activated sludge microbial community. Appl Environ Microbiol 65:102–109

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feng RF, Yang WQ, Jian Z (2006) Review on biochemical property in forest soil organic layer and its responses to climate change. Chin J Appl Environ Bilol 12:734–739

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feng X, Nielsen LL, Simpson MJ (2007) Responses of soil organic matter and microorganisms to freeze–thaw cycles. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2027–2037

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fuzhong W, Changhui P, Jianxiao Z, Jian Z, Bo T, Wanqin Y (2014) Impacts of freezing and thawing dynamics on foliar litter carbon release in alpine/subalpine forests along an altitudinal gradient in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Biogeosciences 11:6471–6481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardes M, Bruns TD (1993) ITS primers with enhanced specificity for basidiomycetes-application to the identification of mycorrhizae and rusts. Mol Ecol 2:113–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gong ZT, Zhang GL, Chen ZC (2007) Pedogenesis and soil taxonomy. Science Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffiths BS, Ritz K, Ebblewhite N, Dobson G (1999) Soil microbial community structure: effects of substrate loading rates. Soil Biol Biochem 31:145–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grogan P, Michelsen A, Ambus P, Jonasson S (2004) Freeze-thaw regime effects on carbon and nitrogen dynamics in sub-arctic heath tundra mesocosms. Soil Biol Biochem 36:641–654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jefferies RL, Walker NA, Edwards KA, Dainty J (2010) Is the decline of soil microbial biomass in late winter coupled to changes in the physical state of cold soils? Soil Biol Biochem 42:129–135

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klironomos JN (2002) Feedback with soil biota contributes to plant rarity and invasiveness in communities. Nature 417:67–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lane DJ (1991) 16S/23S rRNA sequencing. In: Stackerbrandt E, Goodfellow M (eds) Nucleic acid techniques in bacterial systematics. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 115–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipson DA, Schmidt SK (2004) Seasonal changes in an alpine soil bacterial community in the Colorado rocky mountains. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:2867–2879

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson DA, Schmidt SK, Monson RK (1999) Links between microbial population dynamics and nitrogen availability in an alpine ecosystem. Ecology 80:1623–1631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson DA, Schmidt SK, Monson RK (2000) Carbon availability and temperature control the post-snowmelt decline in alpine soil microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 32:441–448

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipson DA, Schadt CW, Schmidt SK (2002) Changes in soil microbial community structure and function in an alpine dry meadow following spring snow melt. Microbial Ecol 43:307–314

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Wu FZ, Yang WQ, Wang A, Tan B, Yu S (2010) Soil bacterial diversity in the subalpine/alpine forests of western Sichuan at the early stage of freeze-thaw season. Acta Ecol Sin 30:5687–5694

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luo HF, Qi HY, Zhang HX (2004) Assessment of the bacterial diversity in fenvalerate-treated soil. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 20:509–515

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi Y, Silman M, Salinas N, Bush M, Meir P, Saatchi S (2010) Introduction: elevation gradients in the tropics: laboratories for ecosystem ecology and global change research. Glob Chang Biol 16:3171–3175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • May LA, Smiley B, Schmidt MG (2001) Comparative denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of fungal communities associated with whole plant corn silage. Can J Microbiol 47:829–841

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Monson RK, Lipson DL, Burns SP, Turnipseed AA, Delany AC, Willians MW, Schmidt SK (2006) Winter forest soil respiration controlled by climate and microbial community composition. Nature 439:711–714

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moscatelli M, Lagomarsino A, Marinari S, De Angelis P, Grego S (2005) Soil microbial indices as bioindicators of environmental changes in a poplar plantation. Ecol Indic 5:171–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Muyzer G, de Waal EC, Uitterlinden AG (1993) Profiling of complex microbial populations by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified genes coding for 16S rRNA. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:695–700

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Okano Y, Hristova KR, Leutenegger CM, Jackson LE, Denison RF, Gebreyesus B, Lebauer D, Scow KM (2004) Application of real-time PCR to study effects of ammonium on population size of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:1008–1016

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson PQ, Sturm M, Racine CH, Romanovsky V, Liston GE (2003) Five stages of the Alaskan Arctic cold season with ecosystem implications. Arct Antarctic Alp Res 35:74–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ÖQuist MG, Sparrman T, Klemedtsson L, Drotz SH, Grip H, Schleucher J, Nilsson M (2009) Water availability controls microbial temperature responses in frozen soil CO2 production. Glob Chang Biol 15:2715–2722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panikov NS, Dedysh S (2000) Cold season CH4 and CO2 emission from boreal peat bogs (West Siberia): winter fluxes and thaw activation dynamics. Global Biogeochem Cy 14:1071–1080

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Price PB, Sowers T (2004) Temperature dependence of metabolic rates for microbial growth, maintenance, and survival. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 101:4631–4636

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Radojkovic D, Kušic J (2000) Silver staining of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis gels. Clin Chem 46:883–884

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reche I, Pulido-Villena E, Morales-Baquero R, Casamayor EO (2005) Does ecosystem size determine aquatic bacterial richness? Ecology 86:1715–1722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimel DS (1995) Terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle. Glob Chang Biol 1:77–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Szele Z, Schilling R, Munch JC, Schloter M (2006) Influence of freeze-thaw stress on the structure and function of microbial communities and denitrifying populations in soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:2148–2154

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma SK, Ramesh A, Sharma MP, Joshi OP, Govaerts B, Steenwerth KL, Karlen DL (2011) Microbial community structure and diversity as indicators for evaluating soil quality. In: Eric L (ed) Biodiversity, biofuels, agroforestry and conservation agriculture. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 317–358

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, He J (2011) Responses of microbes-mediated carbon and nitrogen cycles to global climate change. Acta Ecol Sin 31:2957–2967

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sulkava P, Huhta V (2003) Effects of hard frost and freeze-thaw cycles on decomposer communities and N mineralisation in boreal forest soil. Appl Soil Ecol 22:225–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundqvist MK, Giesler R, Wardle DA (2011) Within-and across-species responses of plant traits and litter decomposition to elevation across contrasting vegetation types in subarctic tundra. PLoS One 6:e27056

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takai K, Horikoshi K (2000) Rapid detection and quantification of members of the archaeal community by quantitative PCR using fluorogenic probes. Appl Environ Microbiol 66:5066–5072

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tan B, Wu FZ, Yang WQ, Liu L, Yu S (2010) Characteristics of soil animal community in the subalpine/alpine forests of western Sichuan during onset of freezing. Acta Ecol Sin 30:93–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan B, Wu F, Yang W, Yu S, Liu L, Wang A (2011) The dynamics pattern of soil carbon and nutrients as soil thawing proceeded in the alpine/subalpine forest. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B Soil Plant Sci 61:670–679

    Google Scholar 

  • Torsvik V, Øvreås L (2002) Microbial diversity and function in soil: from genes to ecosystems. Curr Opin Microbiol 5:240–245

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Trevors J, Kevan P, Tam L (2010) Microbial diversity across a Canadian sub-Arctic, isostatically rebounding, soil transect. Polar Sci 4:81–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilgalys R, Hester M (1990) Rapid genetic identification and mapping of enzymatically amplified ribosomal DNA from several Cryptococcus species. J Bacteriol 172:4238–4246

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walker VK, Palmer GR, Voordouw G (2006) Freeze-thaw tolerance and clues to the winter survival of a soil community. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:1784–1792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang A, Zhang J, Yang WQ, Wu FZ, Liu L, Tan B (2010) Bacterial diversity in organic soil layers of subalpine and alpine forests at the end of freeze-thaw periods. J Beijing For Univ 32:144–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang A, Wu FZ, Yang WQ, Wu ZC, Wang XX, Tan B (2012) Abundance and composition dynamics of soil ammonia-oxidizing archaea in an alpine fir forest on the eastern Tibetan Plateau of China. Can J Microbiol 58:572–580

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle DA, Bardgett RD, Klironomos JN, Setälä H, van der Putten WH, Wall WH (2004) Ecological linkages between aboveground and belowground biota. Science 304:1629–1633

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Welker J, Fahnestock J, Jones M (2000) Annual CO2 flux in dry and moist arctic tundra: field responses to increases in summer temperatures and winter snow depth. Clim Chang 44:139–150

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wellington EM, Berry A, Krsek M (2003) Resolving functional diversity in relation to microbial community structure in soil: exploiting genomics and stable isotope probing. Curr Opin Microbiol 6:295–301

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White T, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor J (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. Academic Press, San Diego

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson SL, Walker VK (2010) Selection of low-temperature resistance in bacteria and potential applications. Environ Technol 31:943–956

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu F, Yang W, Zhang J, Liu L, Wang A (2011) Changes in soil microbial biomass and bacterial diversity during the transition from winter to growing season in the subalpine/alpine forests. Afr J Microbiol Res 5:5575–5583

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang WQ, Feng RF, Zhang J, Wang KY (2007) Carbon stock and biochemical properties in the organic layer and mineral soil under three subalpine forests in Western China. Acta Ecol Sin 27:4157–4165

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, He X, Wu F, Yang W, Tan B (2012) Decomposition of Abies faxoniana litter varies with freeze–thaw stages and altitudes in subalpine/alpine forests of southwest China. Scand J Forest Res 27:586–596

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, Yang W, He X (2013) Temporal dynamics of abiotic and biotic factors on leaf litter of three plant species in relation to decomposition rate along a subalpine elevation gradient. PLoS One 8:e62073

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the nice suggestions from the reviewers. This project was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31570445, 31270498, 31570601, 31500509), and Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (20105103110002).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Long-term Research Station of Alpine Forest Ecosystem, Key Laboratory of Ecological Forestry Engineering, Institute of Ecology and Forestry, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, 611130, China

    Li Zhang, Wanqin Yang, Zhenfeng Xu, Fuzhong Wu, Bo Tan, Yang Liu & Lianghua Chen

  2. Institute of Product Quality Inspection & Testing of Zunyi, Zunyi, Guizhou, 563000, China

    Ao Wang

Authors
  1. Li Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ao Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wanqin Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Zhenfeng Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Fuzhong Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Bo Tan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Lianghua Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wanqin Yang.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Peter William Clinton

Li Zhang and Ao Wang contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, L., Wang, A., Yang, W. et al. Soil microbial abundance and community structure vary with altitude and season in the coniferous forests, China. J Soils Sediments 17, 2318–2328 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1593-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1593-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation