Divergent Responses of Soil Fungi Functional Groups to Short-term Warming

• Published in: Microbial ecology Vol. 68; no. 4; pp. 708 - 715
• Main Authors: Xiong, Jinbo, Peng, Fei, Sun, Huaibo, Xue, Xian, Chu, Haiyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer-Verlag 01.11.2014; Springer; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: alpine meadows; Ascomycota; bacteria; barcoding; Basidiomycota - classification; Basidiomycota - genetics; Basidiomycota - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate Change; Community structure; DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; Ecology; ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY; Forest soils; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; fungal communities; Fungi; Fungi - classification; Fungi - genetics; Fungi - physiology; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Global warming; growing season; Hot Temperature; Life Sciences; lignin; Microbial Ecology; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nature Conservation; rare species; respiratory rate; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S - genetics; Seasons; sequence analysis; Soil ecology; Soil fungi; Soil heating; Soil Microbiology; Soil respiration; Soil samples; soil temperature; species diversity; Tibet; Water Quality/Water Pollution; China; Tibet; Tibetan Plateau; Soil Respiration; Fungal Community; Alpine Meadow; Soil Respiration Rate; Short term; Fungi; Warming; Soils; Temperature; Environmental factor; Ecology; Functional group
• ISSN: 0095-3628; 1432-184X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-014-0385-6

Soil fungi fill pivotal ecological roles in biogeochemical processes, particularly dominating decomposition of lignin. Little is known, however, about the responses of different fungal groups to climate warming with respect to bacteria. In this study, using barcode pyrosequencing, we showed that short-term (15 months) of field exposure of an alpine meadow to warming (elevated 1 and 2 °C) did not markedly alter the overall soil fungal community structures and α-diversity on Tibetan Plateau, but the average β-diversity dramatically decreased in response to warming. However, soil respiration rates were stimulated in the growing season, which significantly (P < 0.001) correlated with soil temperature. Particularly, warming triggered dramatic shifts in the community structure of dominate Ascomycota and rare taxa (relative abundance < 0.1 %). In addition, the abundances of specific Basidiomycota-affiliated members significantly increased, while Ascomycota showed a range of responses to warming. Collectively, we conclude that the fungal communities are resistant to short-term warming, though variations are observed in certain species and rare taxa. This report indicates that changes in a relatively small subset of the soil fungal community are sufficient to produce substantial changes in function, such as CO₂efflux rates.