Dissimilar responses of fungal and bacterial communities to soil transplantation simulating abrupt climate changes

Both fungi and bacteria play essential roles in regulating soil carbon cycling. To predict future carbon stability, it is imperative to understand their responses to environmental changes, which is subject to large uncertainty. As current global warming is causing range shifts toward higher latitudes, we conducted three reciprocal soil transplantation experiments over large transects in 2005 to simulate abrupt climate changes. Six years after soil transplantation, fungal biomass of transplanted soils showed a general pattern of changes from donor sites to destination, which were more obvious in bare fallow soils than in maize cropped soils. Strikingly, fungal community compositions were clustered by sites, demonstrating that fungi of transplanted soils acclimatized to the destination environment. Several fungal taxa displayed sharp changes in relative abundance, including Podospora, Chaetomium, Mortierella and Phialemonium. In contrast, bacterial communities remained largely unchanged. Consistent with the important role of fungi in affecting soil carbon cycling, 8.1%–10.0% of fungal genes encoding carbon‐decomposing enzymes were significantly (p < 0.01) increased as compared with those from bacteria (5.7%–8.4%). To explain these observations, we found that fungal occupancy across samples was mainly determined by annual average air temperature and rainfall, whereas bacterial occupancy was more closely related to soil conditions, which remained stable 6 years after soil transplantation. Together, these results demonstrate dissimilar response patterns and resource partitioning between fungi and bacteria, which may have considerable consequences for ecosystem‐scale carbon cycling.     

发酵床猪粪腐解菌群筛选

在浙江省安吉县采集了相邻的天然灌木林和板栗林土壤,分析土壤水溶性碳(WSOC)、微生物生物量碳(MBC)、易氧化碳(ROC)、水溶性有机氮(WSON)和微生物生物量氮(MBN),并利用核磁共振方法分析土壤总有机碳的波谱特征,研究天然灌木林改造成板栗林对土壤碳库和氮库的影响.结果表明： 天然灌木林改造成板栗林后,土壤中的碱解氮、有效磷和速效钾显著增加,而WSOC、MBC、ROC、WSON和MBN显著下降.天然灌木林和板栗林土壤有机碳以烷基碳和烷氧碳为主.天然灌木林改造成板栗林后,土壤有机碳中的烷氧碳和羰基碳比例显著下降,而烷基碳和芳香碳比例以及A/O-A值和芳香度均显著增加.天然灌木林改造成板栗林并长期集约经营后,土壤活性碳库和氮库含量均显著下降,而土壤碳库的稳定性显著增加.     

Time-Space Characterization of Commercial Seaweed Species from the Gulf of California using a Geographical Information System

The Gulf of California, considered one of the most pristine areas of the world, hosts more than 50 seaweed species that have commercial applications. Only one species, however, is presently harvested commercially. In order to establish potential areas for seaweed use, a Geographical Information System (GIS) was used to determine areas for potential seaweed exploitation based on more than 9000 literature records. The system allows for the determination of sites, areas and times of the year when commercial species may be available. This information is being considered in a zoning program that would determine the areas of the Gulf sustainable for use or conservation. Temperature data were also included in order to determine potential areas for seaweed cultivation. GIS proves to be a powerful tool for large-scale management of seaweed resources.     

Phenology of Sargassum spp. in Tung Ping Chau Marine Park, Hong Kong SAR, China

Eight species of the brown alga Sargassum have been recorded from Tung Ping Chau Marine Park in Hong Kong and the phenology of four of these was monitored from 1996 to 2000. All four species followed a typical growth cycle of Sargassum species reported elsewhere but with some annual variations. For S. hemiphyllum, the maximum mean (±SD) plant length, ranging from 38.5 ± 10.5 to 61.9 ± 19.9 cm, was recorded in January to March. The peak reproductive season was also mainly in February to March with up to 89% of the plants being reproductive. Some plants, however, remained reproductive until May. For. S. henslowianum, the maximum mean plant length, ranging from 45.5 ± 25.5 to 77 ± 24.8 cm, was recorded mainly in November to January. The peak reproductive season was in November to February with up to 100% of the plants being reproductive. For S. siliquastrum, the maximum mean plant length, ranging from 48.2 ± 29.9 to 63.4 ± 22.1 cm, was also recorded mainly in January. The reproductive plants were found mainly between late December and mid February with up to 98% of the plants being reproductive. For. S. patens, the maximum mean plant length ranging from 87.6 ± 62.4 to 118.7 ± 41.3 cm was recorded in January to March. Reproduction of this species was not monitored. Changes in water temperature over seasons were likely to be critical in affecting the phenological patterns of these species.     

Tissue Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Seaweeds in a Tropical Eutrophic Environment: What a Long-Term Study Tells Us

Percentages of nitrogen and phosphorus in 10 species of seaweeds (6 green and 4 red algae) were monitored from 1997 to 2004 by seasonal sampling in Guanabara Bay, South-eastern Brazil. The species did not show consistent variations in tissue N, P and N:P that related to annual cycles. Throughout this study, higher percentages of tissue N and P were found in Bostrychia radicans and Grateloupia doryphora (red algae) and lower in Cladophora rupestris and Codium decorticatum (green algae). In November 1999, the Icaraí Submarine Sewage Outfall became operational, resulting in a reduction of visual pollution in the area and an improvement in the local quality of seawater for recreational use. Measurements of dissolved nutrients at the sampling site did not indicate significant changes in concentrations after the commissioning of the submarine sewage outfall; however, tissue P and N:P ratio of most of species were significantly lower than in the first two years of this survey. Variations in tissue nitrogen throughout this study were not significant, except for G. doryphora in some comparisons. Results show that seaweeds function very well as monitors of environmental changes in Guanabara Bay. Experimental data are needed to identify possible environmental processes which are promoting changes in chemical composition of the local seaweed populations.     

中温（37℃）纤维素分解菌的筛选及混合培养研究

目的:筛选纤维素分解菌,构建复合微生物菌系进行混合培养,获得降解纤维素能力强的复合菌系.方法:从高温阶段堆肥样品、腐熟肥料、牛粪和土壤中筛选出能较好降解纤维素的菌株,进行单独与混合发酵培养,测其酶活.结果:获得降解纤维素能力较强的细菌3株、霉菌4株、放线菌2株.按不同的接种比例构建了4组复合微生物菌系,4个组合的滤纸失重率分别达到41.52%、44.94%、41.82%、37.11%,液体发酵的平均CMC酶活分别为624U/g、988U/g、769U/g、1041U/g,固体发酵的平均CMC酶活分别为4240U/g、5289U/g、4807U/g、5344U/g.结论:综合分析复合菌系滤纸条降解能力、CMC酶活、FAP酶活表明,组合二分解纤维素能力明显强于其他几个组合.     

Post-ice age recolonization and differentiation of Fucus serratus L. (Phaeophyceae; Fucaceae) populations in Northern Europe

The seaweed Fucus serratus is hypothesized to have evolved in the North Atlantic and present populations are thought to reflect recolonization from a southern refugium since the last glacial maximum 18 000-20 000 years bp. We examined genetic structure across several spatial scales by analysing seven microsatellite loci in populations collected from 21 localities throughout the species' range. Spatial auto-correlation analysis of seven microsatellite loci revealed no evidence for spatial clustering of alleles on a scale of 100 m despite limited gamete dispersal in F. serratus of approximately 2 m from parental individuals. Pairwise theta analysis suggested that the minimal panmictic unit for F. serratus was between 0.5 and 2 km. Isolation by distance was significant along some contiguous coastlines. Population differentiation was strong within the Skagerrak-Kattegat-Baltic Seas (SKB) (global theta= 0.17) despite a short history of approximately 7500 years. A neighbour-joining tree based on Reynold's distances computed from the microsatellite data revealed a central assemblage of populations on the Brittany Peninsula surrounded by four well-supported clusters consisting of the SKB, the North Sea (Ireland, Helgoland), and two populations from the northern Spanish coast. Samples from Iceland and Nova Scotia were most closely aligned with northwest Sweden and Brittany, respectively. When sample sizes were standardized (N = 41), allelic diversity was twofold higher for Brittany populations than for populations to the north and threefold higher than southern populations. The Brittany region may be a refugium or a recolonized area, whereas the Spanish populations most likely reflect present-day edge populations that have undergone repeated bottlenecks as a consequence of thermally induced cycles of recolonization and extinction.     

Importance of woody debris in seed germination of Tipularia discolor (Orchidaceae)

Concerns about declining populations of terrestrial orchids make it important to identify the environmental factors crucial to seedling recruitment. This study shows that seedlings of Tipularia discolor (cranefly orchid) primarily occur on decomposing wood. Extensive searches of decomposing logs and stumps in mature and successional forests revealed seedlings at 24 sites, of which 15 could be identified as originating from seven different deciduous trees and one conifer. Seeds were planted in natural habitats to test the hypothesis that germination requires decomposing wood. In one experiment, seeds were placed into soil at sites where adult plants were abundant; no germination resulted. In a second experiment, germination of seeds sown in ambient soil was compared with sowings in plots amended with decomposing wood collected from a stump where spontaneous seedlings grew. Germination was much more frequent in plots amended with decomposing wood. We conclude that germination of T. discolor is stimulated in substrates that contain decomposing wood; judging from the occurrence of spontaneous seedlings, wood from at variety of tree species offer a suitable substrate.