Bacterial Succession in Salt Marsh Soils Along a Short-term Invasion Chronosequence of Spartina alterniflora in the Yellow River Estuary, China.

Bacterial Succession in Salt Marsh Soils Along a Short-term Invasion Chronosequence of Spartina alterniflora in the Yellow River Estuary, China. Microb Ecol. 2019 Aug 24;: Authors: Zhang G, Bai J, Zhao Q, Jia J, Wang W, Wang X Abstract As an exotic plant species, Spartina alterniflora seriously threatens native ecosystem function in Chinese coastal regions. Unveiling the dynamics of soil bacteria community during its invasion is essential for a better understanding of related biogeochemical processes, while the shift in soil bacterial community over invasive time remains unclear. A short-term chronosequence was identified to assess the impacts of Spartina alterniflora invasion on soil nutrients and bacterial community composition and structure (using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing) over the time of invasion (i.e., (1) at least 10 years, (2) nearly 5 years, (3) less than 2 years, and (4) in native salt marshes or 0 years) in the Yellow River Estuary. The results exhibited an orderly change in the soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community composition over the invasion time. Soil pH showed a significant decrease with the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM), whereas soil nutrients such as soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), ammonium (NH4+), K+, and Mg2+ were generally increased with the age of the invasion. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs, 97% similarity ...
Source: Microbial Ecology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Microb Ecol Source Type: research