Environmental filtering of bacterial functional diversity along an aridity gradient.

ABSTRACT: Studying how metagenome composition and diversity varies along environmental gradients may improve understanding of the general principles of community and ecosystem structuring. We studied soil bacterial metagenomes along a precipitation gradient on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, varying between 500 mm and 60 mm mean annual precipitation (MAP). We found that lower MAP was strongly associated with reduced functional diversity of bacterial genes. It appears that extreme environmental conditions associated with aridity constrain the diversity of functional strategies present in soil biota - analogous to broad scale patterns found in plant functional diversity along environmental gradients. In terms of specific functions, more extreme arid conditions were also associated with increased relative

SUBMITTER: Song HK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6351613 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature