Effect of altitude and season on microbial activity, abundance and community structure in Alpine forest soils

FEMS Microbiology Ecology
José A SilesRosa Margesin

Abstract

In the current context of climate change, the study of microbial communities along altitudinal gradients is especially useful. Only few studies considered altitude and season at the same time. We characterized four forest sites located in the Italian Alps, along an altitude gradient (545-2000 m a.s.l.), to evaluate the effect of altitude in spring and autumn on soil microbial properties. Each site in each season was characterized with regard to soil temperature, physicochemical properties, microbial activities (respiration, enzymes), community level physiological profiles (CLPP), microbial abundance and community structure (PLFA). Increased levels of soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrients were found at higher altitudes and in autumn, resulting in a significant increase of (soil dry-mass related) microbial activities and abundance at higher altitudes. Significant site- and season-specific effects were found for enzyme production. The significant interaction of the factors site and incubation temperature for soil microbial activities indicated differences in microbial communities and their responses to temperature among sites. CLPP revealed site-specific effects. Microbial community structure was influenced by altitudinal, seaso...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 1, 2016·Extremophiles : Life Under Extreme Conditions·Luís FrançaRosa Margesin
Nov 1, 2016·FEMS Microbiology Ecology·Josef ElsterMax Häggblom
Nov 27, 2020·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Chengyu YuanXinqiang Liang
Jul 1, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Congcong ShenYuan Ge

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