Community adaptation to temperature explains abrupt soil bacterial community shift along a geothermal gradient on Iceland
(2023) In Soil Biology and Biochemistry 177.- Abstract
Understanding how and why soil microbial communities respond to temperature changes is important for understanding the drivers of microbial distribution and abundance. Studying soil microbe responses to warming is often made difficult by concurrent warming effects on soil and vegetation and by a limited number of warming levels preventing the detection of non-linear effects. A unique area in Iceland, where soil temperatures have recently increased due to geothermic activity, created a stable warming gradient in both grassland (dominated by Agrostis capillaris) and forest (Picea sitchensis) vegetation. By sampling soils which had been subjected to four years of temperature elevation (ambient (MAT 5.2 °C) to +40 °C), we investigated the... (More)
Understanding how and why soil microbial communities respond to temperature changes is important for understanding the drivers of microbial distribution and abundance. Studying soil microbe responses to warming is often made difficult by concurrent warming effects on soil and vegetation and by a limited number of warming levels preventing the detection of non-linear effects. A unique area in Iceland, where soil temperatures have recently increased due to geothermic activity, created a stable warming gradient in both grassland (dominated by Agrostis capillaris) and forest (Picea sitchensis) vegetation. By sampling soils which had been subjected to four years of temperature elevation (ambient (MAT 5.2 °C) to +40 °C), we investigated the shape of the response of soil bacterial communities to warming, and their associated community temperature adaptation. We used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to profile bacterial communities, and bacterial growth-based assays (3H-Leu incorporation) to characterize community adaptation using a temperature sensitivity index (SI, log (growth at 40 °C/4 °C)). Despite highly dissimilar bacterial community composition between the grassland and forest, they adapted similarly to warming. SI was 0.6 (equivalent to a minimum temperature for growth of between −6 and −7 °C) in both control plots. Both diversity and community composition, as well as SI, showed similar threshold dynamics along the soil temperature gradient. There were no significant changes up to soil warming of 6–9 °C above ambient, beyond which all indices shifted in parallel, with SI increasing from 0.6 to 1.5. The consistency of these responses provide evidence for an important role for temperature as a direct driver of bacterial community shifts along soil temperature gradients.
(Less)
- author
- Weedon, James T. ; Bååth, Erland LU ; Rijkers, Ruud LU ; Reischke, Stephanie LU ; Sigurdsson, Bjarni D. ; Oddsdottir, Edda ; van Hal, Jurgen ; Aerts, Rien ; Janssens, Ivan A. and van Bodegom, Peter M.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-02
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Bacterial growth, Geothermic gradient, Soil bacterial community, Temperature adaptation, Threshold
- in
- Soil Biology and Biochemistry
- volume
- 177
- article number
- 108914
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85144026102
- ISSN
- 0038-0717
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108914
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ad4edd5e-0f2e-4ac2-86b0-adc9aeebe86f
- date added to LUP
- 2023-02-02 14:44:06
- date last changed
- 2024-05-17 07:51:02
@article{ad4edd5e-0f2e-4ac2-86b0-adc9aeebe86f,
abstract = {{<p>Understanding how and why soil microbial communities respond to temperature changes is important for understanding the drivers of microbial distribution and abundance. Studying soil microbe responses to warming is often made difficult by concurrent warming effects on soil and vegetation and by a limited number of warming levels preventing the detection of non-linear effects. A unique area in Iceland, where soil temperatures have recently increased due to geothermic activity, created a stable warming gradient in both grassland (dominated by Agrostis capillaris) and forest (Picea sitchensis) vegetation. By sampling soils which had been subjected to four years of temperature elevation (ambient (MAT 5.2 °C) to +40 °C), we investigated the shape of the response of soil bacterial communities to warming, and their associated community temperature adaptation. We used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to profile bacterial communities, and bacterial growth-based assays (<sup>3</sup>H-Leu incorporation) to characterize community adaptation using a temperature sensitivity index (SI, log (growth at 40 °C/4 °C)). Despite highly dissimilar bacterial community composition between the grassland and forest, they adapted similarly to warming. SI was 0.6 (equivalent to a minimum temperature for growth of between −6 and −7 °C) in both control plots. Both diversity and community composition, as well as SI, showed similar threshold dynamics along the soil temperature gradient. There were no significant changes up to soil warming of 6–9 °C above ambient, beyond which all indices shifted in parallel, with SI increasing from 0.6 to 1.5. The consistency of these responses provide evidence for an important role for temperature as a direct driver of bacterial community shifts along soil temperature gradients.</p>}},
author = {{Weedon, James T. and Bååth, Erland and Rijkers, Ruud and Reischke, Stephanie and Sigurdsson, Bjarni D. and Oddsdottir, Edda and van Hal, Jurgen and Aerts, Rien and Janssens, Ivan A. and van Bodegom, Peter M.}},
issn = {{0038-0717}},
keywords = {{Bacterial growth; Geothermic gradient; Soil bacterial community; Temperature adaptation; Threshold}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Soil Biology and Biochemistry}},
title = {{Community adaptation to temperature explains abrupt soil bacterial community shift along a geothermal gradient on Iceland}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108914}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.soilbio.2022.108914}},
volume = {{177}},
year = {{2023}},
}