The mineralo-sphere – Succession and physiology of bacteria and fungi colonising pristine minerals in grassland soils under different land-use intensities

Publication date: September 2019Source: Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Volume 136Author(s): Ellen Kandeler, Aurelia Gebala, Runa S. Boeddinghaus, Karolin Müller, Thilo Rennert, Margarida Soares, Johannes Rousk, Sven MarhanAbstractThe mineralo-sphere is an important micro habitat in terrestrial ecosystems. How different groups of microorganisms colonise mineral surfaces and whether the level of grassland land-use intensity (LUI) modifies this micro-habitat is not well known, however. We exposed mesh containers filled with pristine soil minerals (illite/goethite) mixed with 13C labelled root litter of Dactylis glomerata and Lolium perenne in grassland soils of the “Schwäbische Alb” (Germany) to characterise the succession of different microbial properties in the mineralo-sphere. The use of sites within the Biodiversity Exploratories made it possible to select five sites of low LUI and five sites of high LUI. After 1, 2, 7, 12 and 31 months of exposure in the grassland soils, we used physiological, microbiological and isotopic methods to elucidate in situ colonisation patterns, carbon use and levels of extracellular enzyme expression by soil microorganisms associated with mineral surfaces. Microorganisms slowly colonised pristine mineral surfaces and established functionally distinct communities over time. Fungi colonised mineral surfaces to a greater extent than bacteria, reaching 13.2% of control soils compared to 3.2% by bacteria after 31 months. Fungi also reached pris...
Source: Soil Biology and Biochemistry - Category: Biology Source Type: research