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

• Main Authors: Cutler, Nick A, Arróniz-Crespo, María, Street, Lorna E, Jones, David L, Chaput, Dominique L, DeLuca, Thomas H
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2017
• Subjects: Boreal forest; Climate change; Feather mosses; Microbial community structure; Nutrient cycling; Post-fire succession; Ascomycota; Basidiomycota; Bryophyta; Fires; Microbiota; Proteobacteria; Sweden; Taiga; Trees; Northern Sweden; taiga
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.17863/cam.5919; https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/260765

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 ...