Dataset Information

Do Aerial Nitrogen Depositions Affect Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Oak Leaves?

ABSTRACT: The amount of nitrogen (N) deposition onto forests has globally increased and is expected to double by 2050, mostly because of fertilizer production and fossil fuel burning. Several studies have already investigated the effects of N depositions in forest soils, highlighting negative consequences on plant biodiversity and the associated biota. Nevertheless, the impact of N aerial inputs deposited directly on the tree canopy is still unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the influence of increased N deposition on the leaf-associated fungal and bacterial communities in a temperate forest dominated by Sessile oak [Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.]. The study area was located in the Monticolo forest (South Tyrol, Italy), where an ecosystem experiment simulating an increased N deposition has been established. The results highlighted that N deposition affected the fungal beta-diversity and bacterial alpha-diversity without affecting leaf total N and C contents. We found several indicator genera of both fertilized and natural conditions within bacteria and fungi, suggesting a highly specific response to altered N inputs. Moreover, we found an increase of symbiotrophic fungi in N-treated, samples which are commonly represented by lichen-forming mycobionts. Overall, our results indicated that N-deposition, by increasing the level of bioavailable nutrients in leaves, could directly influence the bacterial and fungal community diversity.

SUBMITTER: Borruso L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8085328 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Do Aerial Nitrogen Depositions Affect Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Oak Leaves?

Borruso Luigimaria L Bani Alessia A Pioli Silvia S Ventura Maurizio M Panzacchi Pietro P Antonielli Livio L Giammarchi Francesco F Polo Andrea A Tonon Giustino G Brusetti Lorenzo L

Frontiers in microbiology 20210416

The amount of nitrogen (N) deposition onto forests has globally increased and is expected to double by 2050, mostly because of fertilizer production and fossil fuel burning. Several studies have already investigated the effects of N depositions in forest soils, highlighting negative consequences on plant biodiversity and the associated biota. Nevertheless, the impact of N aerial inputs deposited directly on the tree canopy is still unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the influence of inc ...[more]

PMID: 33935994

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Project description:It was previously reported that afforestation in the desert can help improve soil texture, carbon accumulation, and nutrient status. However, the effects of afforestation on soil microbial composition, diversity, and microbial interactions with soil physicochemical properties have been rarely evaluated quantitatively. Using the method of space-for-time substitutions, we assessed the development and determinants of topsoil bacterial and fungal communities over nearly 40 years of successive afforestation by aerial sowing in Tengger Desert, China. The results showed that afforestation by aerial sowing comprised a considerable proportion of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria in the bacterial community in addition to the ubiquitous phyla found in desert but had fewer effects on the dominant phyla of the fungal community. At the phylum level, the bacterial community was clearly clustered into two groups. However, it was difficult to differentiate the constituents of the fungal community based on principal coordinate analysis. The richness of the bacterial and fungal communities was significantly higher after five years than at zero years and three years. Additionally, the bacterial community varied parabolically and reached its largest size at twenty years, while the fungal community increased exponentially. Soil physicochemical properties were found to have divergent effects on the abundance and diversity of bacterial and fungal communities, among which salt- and carbon-associated properties (e.g., electrical conductivity, calcium, magnesium, total carbon, and organic carbon) were closely related with the abundance of bacterial-dominant phyla and the diversity of bacteria and fungi, but nutrient-associated properties (e.g., total phosphorus and available phosphorus) were not. The results indicate that afforestation through the salt secretions of plants leaves and carbon inputs from litter promote the development of topsoil bacterial and fungal communities in the desert.

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Do Aerial Nitrogen Depositions Affect Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Oak Leaves?

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Do Aerial Nitrogen Depositions Affect Fungal and Bacterial Communities of Oak Leaves?

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