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Differences in the soil microbiomes of Pentaclethra macroloba across tree size and in contrasting land use histories

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Abstract

Aims

Legacy attributes from land-use history have lingering effects on soil and its below-ground components undergoing succession that has important consequences for regenerating tropical secondary forests. Yet, even landscapes of similar origins with analogous land-use histories have exhibited differing routes of forest recovery with different outcomes. There is increasing evidence that tree species-generated soil microbial heterogeneity is an important factor in facilitating regeneration, particularly nitrogen (N)-fixing tree species. However, it is unclear how land-use history influences the soil microbiome of important N-fixing plants developing under these conditions; at different life stages of N-fixing plant development; and how this compares to a primary forest.

Methods

We examined differences in composition of the soil bacterial and fungal communities and their determinants (i.e. soil environmental factors) associated with large-, medium-, and small-sized Pentaclethra macroloba trees in a primary forest and in a 23-year-old secondary forest with contrasting land-use histories.

Results

We show that as Pentaclethra increases in size (and/or age), the soil microbiome associated with Pentaclethra also changes, and that these soil microbiomes can become similar even when developed in soils of contrasting land-use histories. We found that soil NH4+ and NO3 explained 61% of the variation in the soil bacterial community composition of small trees between the primary and secondary forest.

Conclusions

This highlights the importance of inorganic N during tree soil microbiome development in contrasting land-use history of soils. Our findings suggest that legacy effects on may be mediated through size (and/or age) of Pentaclethra and its associated soil microbiome.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Vinzenz and Kurt Schmack and the staff members at the Laguna del Lagarto Lodge. This study was supported by grants from the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada and NSERC and Food From Thought. TMP would like to acknowledge funding from the Canadian government through the Genomics Research and Development Initiative (GRDI) interdepartmental EcoBiomics project. This study was also supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (DBI-1262907) to WDE; Costa Rican Government Permit #063- 2008-SINAC.

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Correspondence to Mehrdad Hajibabaei.

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All authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Elizabeth M Baggs.

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McGee, K.M., Eaton, W.D., Porter, T.M. et al. Differences in the soil microbiomes of Pentaclethra macroloba across tree size and in contrasting land use histories. Plant Soil 452, 329–345 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04553-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04553-w

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