Journal
PLANT AND SOIL
Volume 460, Issue 1-2, Pages 483-495Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-020-04788-7
Keywords
Bacteria; Fungi; Plant functional traits; Soil microbial community; Soil properties
Categories
Funding
- National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars [31625007]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [31570604, 31600495]
- Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province [2018J01714]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The functional traits of plant roots play a crucial role in determining soil microbial biomass and community composition in forest ecosystems. The combination of leaf and root traits may enhance our understanding of plant-microbe interactions for sustainable forest management.
Aims It is well known that plant root-microbe interactions are critical drivers of ecosystem processes such as soil carbon and nutrient cycling; however, considerable uncertainties exist about how root chemical and morphological traits influence soil microbial community composition. Methods We used 13 tree species grown in field monocultures in subtropical China to explore the ecological linkages between leaves, leaf litter, and root chemical and morphological traits associated with plant growth and nutrient-acquisition strategies, as well as soil microbial biomass, the fungi to bacteria (F/B) ratio, and Gram-positive to Gram-negative bacteria (GP/GN) ratio. Results The combination of above- and belowground traits captured a greater proportion of variations in soil microbial biomass and community composition than did aboveground traits alone. Individually, root traits explained more variations of the F/B and GP/GN ratios than did the individual effects of aboveground leaf or leaf litter traits. All distinct microbial biomass groups and F/B ratios decreased with the specific root length, whereas the F/B ratio increased, and the GP/GN ratio decreased with root tissue density. Conclusions Our study highlighted the importance of the functional traits of plant roots in determining the microbial biomass and community composition in forest ecosystems. The combination of leaf and root traits may improve our understanding of the mechanisms that underly plant-microbe interactions toward the sustainable management of forest ecosystems.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available