An investigation into whether effect of tree species on soil microbial community is related with deciduous property or leaf shape

• Published in: Catena (Giessen) Vol. 195; p. 104699
• Main Authors: Zeng, Jian-Yong, Vuong, Thi-Minh-Dien, Zhang, Bo-Wen, Chen, Yun-Ze, Zhang, Guo-Cai, Bi, Bing
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Broad leaf; Deciduous tree; Evergreen tree; Needle leaf; Soil microbe; Needle leaf; Evergreen tree; Soil microbe; Broad leaf; Deciduous tree
• ISSN: 0341-8162; 1872-6887
• DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2020.104699

•Tree species shaped dominant microbes and soil microbial community.•Deciduous property shaped dominant microbes and soil bacterial community.•Leaf shape groups had same dominant fungi and similar soil microbial community. This study was performed to investigate whether visible properties of trees species (leaf shape and deciduous property) exhibit strong effects on soil microbial community (SMC). Herein, forest soil and leaves were collected from six pure planted forests of City Forestry Demonstration Base at Harbin, northeast China. These forest stands included Pinus tabuliformis Carr. var. mukdensis Uyeki, P. sylvestris L. var. mongolica Litv, Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen, Betula platyphylla Suk, Quercus mongolica Fisch. ex Ledeb, and Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr. The clean soil samples combined with the leaves were incubated in vitro to simulate the degradation of leaves. Analysis of soil fungal microbial community (SFC) and soil bacterial community (SBC) structures by soil fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing resulted that tree species could shape the microbial relative abundance, dominant microbial operational taxonomic unit (OTU), and even SMC structure. Further, analysis on SMCs was performed to test our hypothesis that SFC and SBC structures were correlated with leaf shape (needle or broad) and deciduous property (evergreen or deciduous). Our findings accepted the partial hypothesis that dominant fungal OTUs were sensitive to leaf shape and deciduous property, but could not alter the SFC structure (p > 0.05). A dominant bacterial OTU and not significantly different SBC structure was shared by the leaf shape groups (r = 0.1694, p = 0.0250); while deciduous property determined the dominant bacterial OTU and SBC structure (r = 0.4743, p = 0.0030). The present study provides an insight into the effects of visible properties of tree species on SMC structures.