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Long-Term Recovery of Microbial Communities in the Boreal Bryosphere Following Fire Disturbance.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Cutler, Nick A 
Arróniz-Crespo, María 
Street, Lorna E 
Jones, David L 
Chaput, Dominique L 

Abstract

Our study used a ∼360-year fire chronosequence in northern Sweden to investigate post-fire microbial community dynamics in the boreal bryosphere (the living and dead parts of the feather moss layer on the forest floor, along with the associated biota). We anticipated systematic changes in microbial community structure and growth strategy with increasing time since fire (TSF) and used amplicon pyrosequencing to establish microbial community structure. We also recorded edaphic factors (relating to pH, C and N accumulation) and the physical characteristics of the feather moss layer. The molecular analyses revealed an unexpectedly diverse microbial community. The structure of the community could be largely explained by just two factors, TSF and pH, although the importance of TSF diminished as the forest recovered from disturbance. The microbial communities on the youngest site (TSF = 14 years) were clearly different from older locations (>100 years), suggesting relatively rapid post-fire recovery. A shift towards Proteobacterial taxa on older sites, coupled with a decline in the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, suggested an increase in resource availability with TSF. Saprotrophs dominated the fungal community. Mycorrhizal fungi appeared to decline in abundance with TSF, possibly due to changing N status. Our study provided evidence for the decadal-scale legacy of burning, with implications for boreal forests that are expected to experience more frequent burns over the course of the next century.

Description

Keywords

Boreal forest, Climate change, Feather mosses, Microbial community structure, Nutrient cycling, Post-fire succession, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Bryophyta, Fires, Microbiota, Proteobacteria, Sweden, Taiga, Trees

Journal Title

Microb Ecol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0095-3628
1432-184X

Volume Title

73

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Natural Environment Research Council (Grant ID: NE/ I027150/1), Royal Geographical Society (Grant ID: SRG 13:13), Trinity College Cambridge