Journal
FORESTS
Volume 13, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/f13020163
Keywords
nitrogen limitation shrub ecosystem; nitrogen-fixing plant; vegetation restoration
Categories
Funding
- Guangxi Innovation Driven Development Special Fund Project of China [AA20302018-9]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [U20A2011, 41907208, 31800441, 31870503]
- Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi [2017GXNSFAA198241]
- Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Chinese Academy of Sciences [ISA2021102]
- Opening Project of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Karst Dynamics [202102]
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The study revealed that plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers have low frequency in karst shrub ecosystems, while soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria community structure varies among different topographies and plant types. Plant type has a predominant effect on bacterial community structure, with topography and soil pH having minor effects. A negative correlation between the abundance of soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria and the richness index for plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers was observed.
Plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers and soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria are good indicators for detecting the source of nitrogen in natural ecosystems. However, the community composition and diversity of plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers and soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria in karst shrub ecosystems remain poorly known. The community composition and diversity of soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria and plants, as well as the soil physical-chemical properties were investigated in 21 shrub plots (including different topographies and plant types). The frequency of plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers was found to be low in the 21 shrub plots. The soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacterial community structure varied among the 21 shrub soils. Based on a variance partitioning analysis, topography, plant type, and soil pH explained 48.5% of the observed variation in bacterial community structure. Plant type had a predominant effect on community structure, and topography (aspect and ascent) and soil pH had minor effects. A negative correlation between the abundance of the soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacterial community and the richness index for plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers was observed. The result of the low frequency of plants associated with symbiotic nitrogen-fixers highlights the importance of sources of fixed nitrogen by soil free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the nitrogen limitation shrub ecosystem of the karst regions.
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