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Effects of historical logging on soil microbial communities in a subtropical forest in southern China

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Abstract

Background and Aims

Gaining a better understanding of the legacy effects of logging and forest restoration on soil microbial communities could improve our ability to conserve biodiversity and promote ecosystem sustainability. Herein, we investigated how soil microbial community is linked to natural, restored, and planted forests and the legacies of historical forest.

Methods

Soil microbial biomass and composition were measured in four forest types (i.e., primary forest, once-clearcut forest, twice-logged forest, and plantation forest) and related to physico-chemical soil properties and forest community structure data by using analysis of covariance.

Results

Fungal, bacterial, and total microbial biomass measured by phospholipid fatty acid profiles were significantly lower in the two secondary forests and the plantation than in the primary forest. The conversion of vegetation and soil regimes due to forest logging altered microbial communities.

Conclusions

Our findings elucidate the correlation of plant communities and soil characteristics to soil microbial communities in the context of subtropical forest management. Naturally restored and planted forests may affect soil microorganisms largely by directly modifying the soil labile C and N fractions of organic matter.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to extend our thanks to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31270559), the State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change (LVEC), and the Ministry of Education Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of Peking University for funding this study. We thank Dr. Dunmei Lin, Xingxing Man, and Dr. Bo Yang for their suggestions on data analysis. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Yu Liang, Dr. Jihong Huang, and Dr. Jiangshan Lai for their valuable advice. We appreciate the language assistance provided by Dr. Jeremy Miller, Dr. G.F. (Ciska) Veen, and Dr. G.W Korthals. We also would like to thank the staff of the Gutianshan Research Station of Forest Biodiversity and Climate Change for their assistance in the experimental establishment and sampling.

Ethical statement

Permission to conduct this research and obtain soil samples for analysis was granted by the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Beijing, 100093, China

    Piao Song, Haibao Ren, Qi Jia, Naili Zhang & Keping Ma

  2. Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, 130024, China

    Piao Song & Jixun Guo

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  1. Piao Song
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  2. Haibao Ren
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Correspondence to Jixun Guo or Naili Zhang.

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Responsible Editor: Sven Marhan .

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Fig. S1

Monthly mean air temperature and precipitation from 1985 to 2010 in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve. (DOCX 140 kb)

Table S1

Geographical factors in primary forest (PF), once-clearcut forest (SF1), twice-logged forest (SF2), and plantation (PL) (mean ± standard error, n = 144). (DOCX 36 kb)

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Song, P., Ren, H., Jia, Q. et al. Effects of historical logging on soil microbial communities in a subtropical forest in southern China. Plant Soil 397, 115–126 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2553-y

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