Effects of maternal genotypic identity and genetic diversity of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle on associated soil bacterial communities: A field‐based experiment

• Published in: Ecology and evolution Vol. 10; no. 24; pp. 13957 - 13967
• Main Authors: Craig, Hayley, Kennedy, John Paul, Devlin, Donna J., Bardgett, Richard D., Rowntree, Jennifer K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.12.2020; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Aquatic plants; Associated species; Bacteria; Biodiversity; Carbon; Carbon cycle; Carbon sequestration; Community composition; Composition; Ecosystems; Experiments; Fingerprinting; Flowers & plants; Gene polymorphism; Genetic diversity; Genetic engineering; Genotype & phenotype; Genotypes; intraspecific diversity; Mangrove swamps; Nitrogen cycle; Original Research; Plant diversity; plant genotype; plant‐bacterial interactions; Polymorphism; Reforestation; Restriction fragment length polymorphism; Rhizophora mangle; Soil microorganisms; Soils; Species diversity; Trees; Florida; plant genotype; intraspecific diversity; associated species; plant‐bacterial interactions
• ISSN: 2045-7758; 2045-7758
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6989

Loss of plant biodiversity can result in reduced abundance and diversity of associated species with implications for ecosystem functioning. In ecosystems low in plant species diversity, such as Neotropical mangrove forests, it is thought that genetic diversity within the dominant plant species could play an important role in shaping associated communities. Here, we used a manipulative field experiment to study the effects of maternal genotypic identity and genetic diversity of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle on the composition and richness of associated soil bacterial communities. Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) community fingerprinting, we found that bacterial community composition differed among R. mangle maternal genotypes but not with genetic diversity. Bacterial taxa richness, total soil nitrogen, and total soil carbon were not significantly affected by maternal genotypic identity or genetic diversity of R. mangle. Our findings show that genotype selection in reforestation projects could influence soil bacterial community composition. Further research is needed to determine what impact these bacterial community differences might have on ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling. Using a manipulative field experiment, we show that maternal genotype, but not genetic diversity, of red mangrove trees affects associated soil bacterial community composition. This could have important implications for ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling.