Linking rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria with ecosystem multifunctionality in subtropical forests: From community diversity to environmental adaptation

Environmental factor-driven bacterial diversity could be an indicator for evaluating ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). However, little is known about interconnections between EMF and the community diversity of rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria responsible for organic phosphorus mineralization. Illumina MiSeq sequencing and multiple statistical analyses were used to evaluate diversity maintenance of rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria at both taxonomic and phylogenetic levels and their contributions to soil EMF in the subtropical Shennongjia primeval forest. We found that rare phoD-harboring bacteria exhibited higher community diversity and broader environmental breadths than abundant ones, while abundant phoD-harboring bacteria showed closer phylogenetic clustering and stronger phylogenetic signals of ecological preferences than rare ones. Stochastic processes dominated community assemblies of rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria, and temperature was an important environmental variable adjusting the balance between stochastic and deterministic processes. The taxonomic alpha-diversity of rare phoD-harboring bacteria showed larger contribution to soil EMF than that of abundant ones, while the phylogenetic alpha-diversity of abundant phoD-harboring bacteria contributed significantly more than that of rare ones. Our findings enrich knowledge of the environmental adaptation of rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria, and highlight linkages between soil EMF and the diversity of rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria at both the taxonomic and phylogenetic levels. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study on rare and abundant phoD-harboring bacteria in subtropical Shennongjia primeval forest soil revealed that rare bacteria exhibit higher community diversity and broader environmental adaptability, while abundant bacteria show more obvious phylogenetic clustering and ecological preferences.