The importance of species sorting differs between habitat generalists and specialists in bacterial communities

Recent studies have shown that the spatial turnover of bacterial communities, that is, beta-diversity, is determined by a combination of different assembly mechanisms, such as species sorting, that is, environmental filtering, and dispersal-related mechanisms. However, it is currently unclear to what extent the importance of the different mechanisms depends on community traits. Here, we implemented a study using a rock pool metacommunity to test whether habitat specialization of bacterial taxa and groups or their phylogenetic identity influenced by which mechanisms communities were assembled. In general, our results show that species sorting was the most important assembly mechanism. However, we found that a larger fraction of the variation in bacterial community composition between pools could be explained by environmental factors in case of habitat generalists, that is, taxa that were widespread and abundant in the metacommunity, compared with habitat specialists, that is, taxa that had a more restricted distribution range and tended to be rare. Differences in assembly mechanisms were observed between different major phyla and classes. However, also here, a larger fraction of the variation in community composition among pools could be explained for taxonomic groups that contained on average more habitat generalists. In summary, our results show that species sorting is stronger for the most common taxa, indicating that beta-diversity along environmental gradients can be adequately described without considering rare taxa.

Controls on soil microbial community stability under climate change

Soil microbial communities are intricately linked to ecosystem functioning because they play important roles in carbon and nitrogen cycling. Still, we know little about how soil microbial communities will be affected by disturbances expected with climate change. This is a significant gap in understanding, as the stability of microbial communities, defined as a community's ability to resist and recover from disturbances, likely has consequences for ecosystem function. Here, we propose a framework for predicting a community's response to climate change, based on specific functional traits present in the community, the relative dominance of r- and K-strategists, and the soil environment. We hypothesize that the relative abundance of r- and K-strategists will inform about a community's resistance and resilience to climate change associated disturbances. We also propose that other factors specific to soils, such as moisture content and the presence of plants, may enhance a community's resilience. For example, recent evidence suggests microbial grazers, resource availability, and plant roots each impact on microbial community stability. We explore these hypotheses by offering three vignettes of published data that we re-analyzed. Our results show that community measures of the relative abundance of r- and K-strategists, as well as environmental properties like resource availability and the abundance and diversity of higher trophic levels, can contribute to explaining the response of microbial community composition to climate change-related disturbances. However, further investigation and experimental validation is necessary to directly test these hypotheses across a wide range of soil ecosystems.

Phylogenetic conservatism of functional traits in microorganisms

A central question in biology is how biodiversity influences ecosystem functioning. Underlying this is the relationship between organismal phylogeny and the presence of specific functional traits. The relationship is complicated by gene loss and convergent evolution, resulting in the polyphyletic distribution of many traits. In microorganisms, lateral gene transfer can further distort the linkage between phylogeny and the presence of specific functional traits. To identify the phylogenetic conservation of specific traits in microorganisms, we developed a new phylogenetic metric-consenTRAIT-to estimate the clade depth where organisms share a trait. We then analyzed the distribution of 89 functional traits across a broad range of Bacteria and Archaea using genotypic and phenotypic data. A total of 93% of the traits were significantly non-randomly distributed, which suggested that vertical inheritance was generally important for the phylogenetic dispersion of functional traits in microorganisms. Further, traits in microbes were associated with a continuum of trait depths (τD), ranging from a few deep to many shallow clades (average τD: 0.101-0.0011 rRNA sequence dissimilarity). Next, we demonstrated that the dispersion and the depth of clades that contain a trait is correlated with the trait's complexity. Specifically, complex traits encoded by many genes like photosynthesis and methanogenesis were found in a few deep clusters, whereas the ability to use simple carbon substrates was highly phylogenetically dispersed. On the basis of these results, we propose a framework for predicting the phylogenetic conservatism of functional traits depending on the complexity of the trait. This framework enables predicting how variation in microbial composition may affect microbially-mediated ecosystem processes as well as linking phylogenetic and trait-based patterns of biogeography.

Digging the New York City Skyline: soil fungal communities in green roofs and city parks

In urban environments, green roofs provide a number of benefits, including decreased urban heat island effects and reduced energy costs for buildings. However, little research has been done on the non-plant biota associated with green roofs, which likely affect their functionality. For the current study, we evaluated whether or not green roofs planted with two native plant communities in New York City functioned as habitats for soil fungal communities, and compared fungal communities in green roof growing media to soil microbial composition in five city parks, including Central Park and the High Line. Ten replicate roofs were sampled one year after planting; three of these roofs were more intensively sampled and compared to nearby city parks. Using Illumina sequencing of the fungal ITS region we found that green roofs supported a diverse fungal community, with numerous taxa belonging to fungal groups capable of surviving in disturbed and polluted habitats. Across roofs, there was significant biogeographical clustering of fungal communities, indicating that community assembly of roof microbes across the greater New York City area is locally variable. Green roof fungal communities were compositionally distinct from city parks and only 54% of the green roof taxa were also found in the park soils. Phospholipid fatty acid analysis revealed that park soils had greater microbial biomass and higher bacterial to fungal ratios than green roof substrates. City park soils were also more enriched with heavy metals, had lower pH, and lower quantities of total bases (Ca, K, and Mg) compared to green roof substrates. While fungal communities were compositionally distinct across green roofs, they did not differentiate by plant community. Together, these results suggest that fungi living in the growing medium of green roofs may be an underestimated component of these biotic systems functioning to support some of the valued ecological services of green roofs.

Bacterial endophytes mediate positive feedback effects of early legume termination times on the yield of subsequent durum wheat crops

Field crops influence the biotic properties of the soil, impacting the health and productivity of subsequent crops. Polymerase chain reaction and 454 GS FLX pyrosequencing of amplicons were used to clarify the legacy of chickpea and pea crops on the quality of the bacterial community colonizing the root endosphere of subsequent crops of wheat, in a replicated field study. Similar communities of root endosphere bacteria were formed in durum wheat grown after pea and chickpea crops when chickpea crops were terminated as early as pea (July). Termination of the chickpea crops in September led to the domination of Firmicutes in wheat root endosphere; Actinobacteria dominated the wheat root endosphere following early pulse crop termination. The architecture of wheat plants was correlated with the composition of its root endosphere community. High grain yield was associated with the production of fewer but larger wheat heads, the abundance of endospheric Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria, and the scarcity of endospheric Firmicutes. Pulse termination time affected wheat root endosphere colonization strongly in 2009 but weakly in 2010, an abnormally wet year. This study improved our understanding of the so-called "crop rotation effect" in pulse-wheat systems and showed how this system can be manipulated through agronomic decisions.

Microbial control over carbon cycling in soil

A major thrust of terrestrial microbial ecology is focused on understanding when and how the composition of the microbial community affects the functioning of biogeochemical processes at the ecosystem scale (meters-to-kilometers and days-to-years). While research has demonstrated these linkages for physiologically and phylogenetically "narrow" processes such as trace gas emissions and nitrification, there is less conclusive evidence that microbial community composition influences the "broad" processes of decomposition and organic matter (OM) turnover in soil. In this paper, we consider how soil microbial community structure influences C cycling. We consider the phylogenetic level at which microbes form meaningful guilds, based on overall life history strategies, and suggest that these are associated with deep evolutionary divergences, while much of the species-level diversity probably reflects functional redundancy. We then consider under what conditions it is possible for differences among microbes to affect process dynamics, and argue that while microbial community structure may be important in the rate of OM breakdown in the rhizosphere and in detritus, it is likely not important in the mineral soil. In mineral soil, physical access to occluded or sorbed substrates is the rate-limiting process. Microbial community influences on OM turnover in mineral soils are based on how organisms allocate the C they take up - not only do the fates of the molecules differ, but they can affect the soil system differently as well. For example, extracellular enzymes and extracellular polysaccharides can be key controls on soil structure and function. How microbes allocate C may also be particularly important for understanding the long-term fate of C in soil - is it sequestered or not?

Rapid responses of soil microorganisms improve plant fitness in novel environments

Global change is challenging plant and animal populations with novel environmental conditions, including increased atmospheric CO(2) concentrations, warmer temperatures, and altered precipitation regimes. In some cases, contemporary or "rapid" evolution can ameliorate the effects of global change. However, the direction and magnitude of evolutionary responses may be contingent upon interactions with other community members that also are experiencing novel environmental conditions. Here, we examine plant adaptation to drought stress in a multigeneration experiment that manipulated aboveground-belowground feedbacks between plants and soil microbial communities. Although drought stress reduced plant growth and accelerated plant phenologies, surprisingly, plant evolutionary responses to drought were relatively weak. In contrast, plant fitness in both drought and nondrought environments was linked strongly to the rapid responses of soil microbial community structure to moisture manipulations. Specifically, plants were most fit when their contemporary environmental conditions (wet vs. dry soil) matched the historical environmental conditions (wet vs. dry soil) of their associated microbial community. Together, our findings suggest that, when faced with environmental change, plants may not be limited to "adapt or migrate" strategies; instead, they also may benefit from association with interacting species, especially diverse soil microbial communities, that respond rapidly to environmental change.

When should we expect microbial phenotypic traits to predict microbial abundances?

Species' phenotypic traits may predict their relative abundances. Intuitively, this is because locally abundant species have traits making them well-adapted to local abiotic and biotic conditions, while locally rare species are not as well-adapted. But this intuition may not be valid. If competing species vary in how well-adapted they are to local conditions, why doesn't the best-adapted species simply exclude the others entirely? But conversely, if species exhibit niche differences that allow them to coexist, then by definition there is no single best adapted species. Rather, demographic rates depend on species' relative abundances, so that phenotypic traits conferring high adaptedness do not necessarily confer high abundance. I illustrate these points using a simple theoretical model incorporating adjustable levels of “adaptedness” and “niche differences.” Even very small niche differences can weaken or even reverse the expected correlation between adaptive traits and abundance. Conversely, adaptive traits confer high abundance when niche differences are very strong. Future work should be directed toward understanding the link between phenotypic traits and frequency-dependence of demographic rates.