State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China (People's Republic)
Background/Question/Methods:
Climatic factors are reported to strongly affect soil microbial community characteristics along the altitudinal gradients, but it is not clear whether the altitudinal gradient pattern of soil microbial community varies in different zones. Therefore, four altitudinal gradient experiments were designed in the subtropical mountains of Mt. Chebaling, Mt. Dinghushan and Mt. Nanling to compare soil bacterial and fungal communities dynamics. PLFAs was used to determine the biomass of soil bacteria and fungi. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and ITS gene was used to analyze soil bacterial and fungal diversity and composition.
Results/Conclusions:
Our results indicate that the biomass and diversity of bacteria and fungi in different transect zones had various responses to the elevation gradient. soil pH, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, annual mean temperature and annual mean precipitation were significantly correlated with the altitudinal gradient pattern of soil microbiome in the most transect zones. These results indicate that the biomass and diversity of soil bacteria and fungi is heterogeneous and similar in response to climate gradient due to the complexity of environmental changes and diversity of microbial flora. This study provides a theoretical basis for whether and how climate change will significantly affect soil microbial communities in different regions in the future.
