Microbial communities and activities in alpine and subalpine soils

Soil samples were collected along two slopes (south and north) at subalpine (1500-1900 m, under closed vegetation, up to the forest line) and alpine altitudes (2300-2530, under scattered vegetation, above the forest line) in the Grossglockner mountain area (Austrian central Alps). Soils were analyzed for a number of properties, including physical and chemical soil properties, microbial activity and microbial communities that were investigated using culture-dependent (viable heterotrophic bacteria) and culture-independent methods (phospholipid fatty acid analysis, FISH). Alpine soils were characterized by significantly (P < 0.01) colder climate conditions, i.e. lower mean annual air and soil temperatures, more frost and ice days and higher precipitation, compared with subalpine soils. Microbial activity (soil dehydrogenase activity) decreased with altitude; however, dehydrogenase activity was better adapted to cold in alpine soils compared with subalpine soils, as shown by the lower apparent optimum temperature for activity (30 vs. 37 degrees C) and the significantly (P < 0.01-0.001) higher relative activity in the low-temperature range. With increasing altitude, i.e. in alpine soils, a significant (P < 0.05-0.01) increase in the relative amount of culturable psychrophilic heterotrophic bacteria, in the relative amount of the fungal population and in the relative amount of Gram-negative bacteria was found, which indicates shifts in microbial community composition with altitude.