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The Influence of Tropical Plant Diversity and Composition on Soil Microbial Communities

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Abstract

There is growing interest in understanding the linkages between above- and belowground communities, and very little is known about these linkages in tropical systems. Using an experimental site at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, we examined whether plant diversity, plant community composition, and season influenced microbial communities. We also determined whether soil characteristics were related to differences in microbial communities. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition revealed that microbial community composition differed across a plant diversity gradient (plots contained 1, 3, 5, or over 25 species). Plant species identity also was a factor influencing microbial community composition; PLFA composition significantly varied among monocultures, and among three-species combinations that differed in plant species composition. Differences among treatments within each of these comparisons were apparent in all four sampling dates of the study. There was no consistent shift in microbial community composition between wet and dry seasons, although we did see significant changes over time. Of all measured soil characteristics, soil C/N was most often associated with changes in microbial community composition across treatment groups. Our findings provide evidence for human alteration of soil microbial communities via the alteration of plant community composition and diversity and that such changes are mediated in part by changes in soil carbon quality.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jack Ewel for his generosity in sharing his field sites, staff, equipment, knowledge, and guidance throughout this project. We also thank Brendan Bohannan and Peter Vitousek for aiding the direction of the research, Alex Reich and Ricardo Bedoya for field and logistical support, and the Huertos crew for help in the field. Thanks also to Peter Jewett, Ian Monroe, Zenobia Moore, and Martha Roberts for help with laboratory analyses at Stanford. The manuscript greatly benefited from suggestions made by Brendan Bohannan, Veronica Hirsh-Volny, Claire Horner-Devine, Amy Luers, Taylor Ricketts, and Peter Vitousek. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Program, NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 0205959, NSF awards DEB 90318403 and DEB 9623969, the Stanford University School of Earth Sciences McGee Fund, and a grant from the A.W. Mellon Foundation to Pamela Matson.

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  1. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, PO Box 28, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA

    Karen M. Carney

  2. Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Pamela A. Matson

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  1. Karen M. Carney
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Correspondence to Karen M. Carney.

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Carney, K.M., Matson, P.A. The Influence of Tropical Plant Diversity and Composition on Soil Microbial Communities. Microb Ecol 52, 226–238 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-006-9115-z

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