Despite their pivotal role, our knowledge regarding how soil microorganisms respond to environmental changes is still scarce 7, and microbial dynamics have only recently started to be incorporated in ecosystem models 8. In this balance, it is especially relevant the role of soil microorganisms, key players in soil organic matter (SOM, the main C reservoir in forests) transformation and decomposition, and, as a consequence, in soil respiration 5, 6. Nonetheless, Earth’s climate is warming and this increase in global temperature will probably have consequences on the balance between annual soil C inputs (photosynthesis) and losses (respiration) 4. For example, C fixed by primary producers in forests exceeds C loss by respiration by 7–25% 2 and the current C stocks in the world’s forests have been estimated to be 861 ± 66 Pg C 3. Significant seasonal effects were detected only for the diversity (higher values in autumn) and composition of microbial functional gene community, which was related to the non-significant increased SOM and nutrient contents detected in autumn respect to spring and the presumable high capacity of soil microbial communities to respond in functional terms to discreet environmental changes.įorests, which cover 38 million square kilometers of the planet and contain more than three trillions of trees, have a crucial role on the climate, the geochemical cycles and especially on the global carbon (C) cycling since they act as important C sinks 1. A network analysis revealed that deciduous forest site (at lower altitude) presented a lower resistance to environmental changes than that of coniferous forest site (at higher altitude). Significant altitudinal changes were detected in microbial abundances as well as in diversity and composition of taxonomic and functional communities as a consequence of the differences in pH, soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrient contents and soil temperatures measured between both sites. coniferous forest) situated at different altitudes (altitudinal effect) in spring and autumn (seasonal effect) regarding: (i) bacterial and fungal abundances (qPCR) (ii) diversity and structure of bacterial and fungal communities (amplicon sequencing) and (iii) diversity and composition of microbial functional gene community (Geochip 5.0). We here investigated two Alpine forest sites (deciduous forest vs. The study of soil microbial responses to environmental changes is useful to improve simulation models and mitigation strategies for climate change.
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