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Nitrogen addition promotes soil microbial beta diversity and the stochastic assembly
Zhenghu Zhou1, Mianhai Zheng2, Jianyang Xia3
1Center for Ecological Research, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management-Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China.
The Science of the Total Environment
|October 1, 2021
Summary
Nitrogen (N) deposition significantly alters soil microbial communities, increasing the importance of stochastic processes in their assembly. This global analysis reveals how N addition impacts microbial diversity and structure, especially in N-limited environments.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Soil Microbiology
- Ecology
Background:
- Nitrogen (N) deposition is a significant environmental issue altering pedosphere microbial communities.
- Understanding microbial community assembly mechanisms (deterministic vs. stochastic processes) under N addition is crucial but limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conduct a global analysis of high-throughput sequencing data to elucidate the mechanisms driving soil microbial community responses to N addition.
- To investigate the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic processes in microbial assembly under N deposition.
Main Methods:
- Global analysis of high-throughput sequencing data from various studies on N addition effects.
- Statistical analysis to assess shifts in microbial community structure and beta diversity.
- Evaluation of the influence of N addition rate, study duration, and soil acidification on microbial assembly.
Main Results:
- Nitrogen addition significantly shifted soil microbial community structure and promoted microbial beta diversity, particularly in N-limited ecosystems.
- Changes in microbial structure and diversity intensified with increased N addition rates, study duration, and soil acidification.
- Stochastic processes were found to be more dominant than deterministic processes in microbial community assembly, with N addition further enhancing the role of stochasticity.
Conclusions:
- Ecological stochasticity plays a critical role in regulating soil microbial assembly under N deposition.
- The findings provide insights into the mechanisms governing microbial community dynamics in response to anthropogenic nitrogen enrichment.
- This study underscores the need to consider stochastic processes when predicting microbial community responses to environmental changes like N deposition.
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