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Soil microbial richness and community composition are primarily mediated by functional trait diversity of fine roots in subtropical forests

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Abstract

Aims

Although plant–microbial interactions are essential to sustain terrestrial ecosystem functions, root–microbial interactions remain poorly understood. Therefore, understanding how functional trait diversity of fine roots mediates soil microbial diversity and composition provides insightful information to maintain forest ecosystem functions.

Methods

A total of 87 plots with 1–12 tree species richness gradient in three subtropical secondary forests were selected. Functional trait diversity (functional dispersion, FDis, and community-weighted mean, CWM) of fine roots was quantified. Soil microbial diversity and community composition were analyzed by high-throughput Illumina sequencing.

Results

Bacterial and fungal richness was primarily predicted by CWM of root diameter (CWM_diam) in the humus horizon, but by FDis of specific root length (FDis_SRL) in the mineral horizon. Microbial community composition in two soil horizons increased with FDis_SRL, including the abundance of copiotrophic bacteria (r-strategists, e.g., Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria), Chloroflexi, saprotrophs and pathogens. FDis_SRL was also indirectly mediated microbial richness and composition via decreasing carbon:nitrogen ratio and increasing pH, total nitrogen, total and available phosphorus contents.

Conclusions

Overall, functional trait diversity of fine roots plays a pivotal role in mediating soil microbial richness and community composition in subtropical secondary forests. These results deepen our understanding of the important role of plant–microbial interactions in terrestrial biogeochemical processes.

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Data Availability

The data presented in this study are available in the Supplementary information.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870431 and 32071561), the Huitong Forest Ecological Station funded by the State Forestry Administration of China (2021132078), and the Ministry of Education for the Changjiang Professorship Award, Strategic Academic Leadership Program “Priority 2030” of the Kazan Federal University, and the Peoples Friendship University of Russia Strategic Academic Leadership Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, No. 498 Southern Shaoshan Road, Changsha, 410004, Hunan, China

    Jinwen Pan, Huili Wu, Wenhua Xiang, Shuai Ouyang, Liang Chen, Yelin Zeng, Xiangwen Deng, Zhonghui Zhao, Weixian Zeng & Yakov Kuzyakov

  2. Huitong National Station for Scientific Observation and Research of Chinese Fir Plantation Ecosystems in Hunan Province, Huitong, 438107, Hunan, China

    Jinwen Pan, Huili Wu, Wenhua Xiang, Shuai Ouyang, Liang Chen, Yelin Zeng, Xiangwen Deng, Zhonghui Zhao & Weixian Zeng

  3. Department of Soil Science of Temperate Ecosystems, Department of Agricultural Soil Science, University of Goettingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Yakov Kuzyakov

  4. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Kazan Federal University, 420049, Kazan, Russia

    Yakov Kuzyakov

  5. Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), 117198, Moscow, Russia

    Yakov Kuzyakov

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  1. Jinwen Pan
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Contributions

WX and HW designed the research; JP, HW and WZ performed experiments and conducted fieldwork; SO, LC, YZ, XD, ZZ and WZ analyzed data; JP, WX and HW wrote the manuscript; WX, SO, LC, YZ and YK edited and improved the manuscript. All authors contributed to reviewing the analyses and the final text.

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Correspondence to Wenhua Xiang.

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Jinwen Pan and Huili Wu shared first authorship.

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Pan, J., Wu, H., Xiang, W. et al. Soil microbial richness and community composition are primarily mediated by functional trait diversity of fine roots in subtropical forests. Plant Soil 497, 485–501 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06408-6

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