Soil phototroph community resilience comes from down under.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Seed banks are widely recognized as means of recovery following disturbance across diverse ecosystems, including soil. Phototrophic microbes, while common in surface soils, have not been considered within this context.

Methods

We subjected a variety of topsoil photosynthetically-driven communities (biocrusts) to severe disturbance by scalping off the surface layer, thereby exposing the undercrust. We collected samples from the biocrust layer, the undercrust layer, and again the recovering biocrust layer after a 4-month period. Samples were analyzed for biopigments (chlorophyll a and scytonemin) and 16S rRNA gene copies and its sequence diversity.

Results

Ribosomal gene counts and pigment analyses revealed consistently rapid recovery, as much as 52% conten

SUBMITTER: Scott B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12727951 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature