Nitrogen cycling responses to mountain pine beetle disturbance in a high elevation whitebark pine ecosystem

Structural and Functional Dynamics of Soil Microbes following Spruce Beetle Infestation

As the range of bark beetles expands into new forests and woodlands, the need to understand their effects on multiple trophic levels becomes increasingly important. To date, much attention has been paid to the aboveground processes affected by bark beetle infestation, with a focus on photoautotrophs and ecosystem level processes. However, indirect effects of bark beetle on belowground processes, especially the structure and function of soil microbiota remains largely a black box. Our study examined the impacts of bark beetle-induced tree mortality on soil microbial community structure and function using high-throughput sequencing of the soil bacterial and fungal communities and measurements of extracellular enzyme activities. The results suggest bark beetle infestation affected edaphic conditions through increased soil water content, pH, electrical conductivity, and carbon/nitrogen ratio and altered bulk and rhizosphere soil microbial community structure and function. Finally, increased enzymatic activity suggests heightened microbial decomposition following bark beetle infestation. With this increase in enzymatic activity, nutrients trapped in organic substrates may become accessible to seedlings and potentially alter the trajectory of forest regeneration. Our results indicate the need for incorporation of microbial processes into ecosystem level models.IMPORTANCE Belowground impacts of bark beetle infestation have not been explored as thoroughly as their aboveground counterparts. In order to accurately model impacts of bark beetle-induced tree mortality on carbon and nutrient cycling and forest regeneration, the intricacies of soil microbial communities must be examined. In this study, we investigated the structure and function of soil bacterial and fungal communities following bark beetle infestation. Our results show bark beetle infestation to impact soil conditions, as well as soil microbial community structure and function.

Defoliating Insect Mass Outbreak Affects Soil N Fluxes and Tree N Nutrition in Scots Pine Forests

Biotic stress by mass outbreaks of defoliating pest insects does not only affect tree performance by reducing its photosynthetic capacity, but also changes N cycling in the soil of forest ecosystems. However, how insect induced defoliation affects soil N fluxes and, in turn, tree N nutrition is not well-studied. In the present study, we quantified N input and output fluxes via dry matter input, throughfall, and soil leachates. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of mass insect herbivory on tree N acquisition (i.e., organic and inorganic 15N net uptake capacity of fine roots) as well as N pools in fine roots and needles in a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest over an entire vegetation period. Plots were either infested by the nun moth (Lymantria monacha L.) or served as controls. Our results show an increased N input by insect feces, litter, and throughfall at the infested plots compared to controls, as well as increased leaching of nitrate. However, the additional N input into the soil did not increase, but reduce inorganic and organic net N uptake capacity of Scots pine roots. N pools in the fine roots and needles of infested trees showed an accumulation of total N, amino acid-N, protein-N, and structural N in the roots and the remaining needles as a compensatory response triggered by defoliation. Thus, although soil N availability was increased via surplus N input, trees did not respond with an increased N acquisition, but rather invested resources into defense by accumulation of amino acid-N and protein-N as a survival strategy.

Changes in soil biogeochemistry following disturbance by girdling and mountain pine beetles in subalpine forests

A recent unprecedented epidemic of beetle-induced tree mortality has occurred in the lodgepole pine forests of Western North America. Here, we present the results of studies in two subalpine forests in the Rocky Mountains, one that experienced natural pine beetle disturbance and one that experienced simulated disturbance imposed through bole girdling. We assessed changes to soil microclimate and biogeochemical pools in plots representing different post-disturbance chronosequences. High plot tree mortality, whether due to girdling or beetle infestation, caused similar alterations in soil nutrient pools. During the first 4 years after disturbance, sharp declines were observed in the soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (45-51 %), microbial biomass carbon concentration (33-39 %), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) concentration (31-42%), and inorganic phosphorus (PO4(3-)) concentration (53-55%). Five to six years after disturbance, concentrations of DOC, DON, and PO4(3-) recovered to 71-140 % of those measured in undisturbed plots. Recovery was coincident with observed increases in litter depth and the sublitter, soil O-horizon. During the 4 years following disturbance, soil ammonium, but not nitrate, increased to 2-3 times the levels measured in undisturbed plots. Microbial biomass N increased in plots where increased ammonium was available. Our results show that previously observed declines in soil respiration following beetle-induced disturbance are accompanied by losses in key soil nutrients. Recovery of the soil nutrient pool occurs only after several years following disturbance, and is correlated with progressive mineralization of dead tree litter.

Soil bacterial community structure remains stable over a 5-year chronosequence of insect-induced tree mortality

Extensive tree mortality from insect epidemics has raised concern over possible effects on soil biogeochemical processes. Yet despite the importance of microbes in nutrient cycling, how soil bacterial communities respond to insect-induced tree mortality is largely unknown. We examined soil bacterial community structure (via 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing) and community assembly processes (via null deviation analysis) along a 5-year chronosequence (substituting space for time) of bark beetle-induced tree mortality in the southern Rocky Mountains, USA. We also measured microbial biomass and soil chemistry, and used in situ experiments to assess inorganic nitrogen mineralization rates. We found that bacterial community structure and assembly-which was strongly influenced by stochastic processes-were largely unaffected by tree mortality despite increased soil ammonium ([Formula: see text]) pools and reductions in soil nitrate ([Formula: see text]) pools and net nitrogen mineralization rates after tree mortality. Linear models suggested that microbial biomass and bacterial phylogenetic diversity are significantly correlated with nitrogen mineralization rates of this forested ecosystem. However, given the overall resistance of the bacterial community to disturbance from tree mortality, soil nitrogen processes likely remained relatively stable following tree mortality when considered at larger spatial and longer temporal scales-a supposition supported by the majority of available studies regarding biogeochemical effects of bark beetle infestations in this region. Our results suggest that soil bacterial community resistance to disturbance helps to explain the relatively weak effects of insect-induced tree mortality on soil N and C pools reported across the Rocky Mountains, USA.