Dataset Information

Grazing Effects of Soil Fauna on White-Rot Fungi: Biomass, Enzyme Production and Litter Decomposition Ability.

ABSTRACT: Soil invertebrates and microorganisms are two major drivers of litter decomposition. Even though the importance of invertebrates and microorganisms in biogeochemical soil cycles and soil food webs has been studied, the effects of invertebrates on fungi are not well understood compared to other organisms. In this work, we investigated the effects of soil invertebrates on fungi as a factor that cannot be ignored in the study of nutrient cycling. The result showed the grazing of isopods on white-rot fungi was transitive and persistent. The grazed fungi appeared "compensatory" growing. The biomass of fungi increased after grazing. The activities of enzymes associated with nutrient cycling were increased under grazing. The zymography images showed the enzyme hotspots and activities also increased significantly in the grazing area. The results suggest that invertebrate grazing can significantly increase the fungal biomass and enzyme activity, accelerating litter decomposition in the unreached grazer area. The grazing effects of invertebrate plays an important role in promoting the nutrient cycling of the forest ecosystem. We believe that this study will be a good reference related to showing the relationship between soil invertebrates, fungi and soil biogeochemical cycles.

SUBMITTER: Chen Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9032049 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Grazing Effects of Soil Fauna on White-Rot Fungi: Biomass, Enzyme Production and Litter Decomposition Ability.

Chen Yunru Y Cao Tingting T Lv Meiqi M Fang You Y Liu Run R Luo Yunchao Y Xu Chi C Tian Xingjun X

Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) 20220328 4

Soil invertebrates and microorganisms are two major drivers of litter decomposition. Even though the importance of invertebrates and microorganisms in biogeochemical soil cycles and soil food webs has been studied, the effects of invertebrates on fungi are not well understood compared to other organisms. In this work, we investigated the effects of soil invertebrates on fungi as a factor that cannot be ignored in the study of nutrient cycling. The result showed the grazing of isopods on white-ro ...[more]

PMID: 35448579

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Project description:Habitat degradation and associated reductions in ecosystem functions can be reversed by reintroducing or 'rewilding' keystone species. Rewilding projects have historically targeted restoration of processes such as grazing regimes or top-down predation effects. Few projects focus on restoring decomposition efficiency, despite the pivotal role decomposition plays in global carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling. Here, we tested whether rewilding entire communities of detritivorous invertebrates and fungi can improve litter decomposition efficiency and restore detritivore communities during ecological restoration. Rewilding was conducted by transplanting leaf litter and soil, including associated invertebrate and fungal communities from species-rich remnant sites into species-poor, and geographically isolated, revegetated farmland sites in a temperate woodland region of southeastern Australia. We compared communities in sites under the following treatments: remnant (conservation area and source of litter transplant), rewilded revegetation (revegetated farmland site with litter transplant) and control revegetation (revegetated site, no transplant). In one 'before' and three 'after' sampling periods, we measured litter decomposition and the abundance and diversity of detritivorous invertebrates and fungi. We quantified the effect of detritivores on the rate of litter decomposition using piecewise Structural Equation Modelling. Decomposition was significantly faster in rewilding sites than in both control and remnant areas and was largely driven by a greater abundance of invertebrate detritivores. Similarly, the abundance of invertebrate detritivores in rewilding revegetation sites exceeded the level of remnant communities, whereas there was little difference between control and remnant sites. In contrast, rewilding did not increase saprotrophic fungi relative abundance/diversity and there was no strong relationship between decomposition and fungal diversity. Our findings suggest the relatively simple act of transplanting leaf litter and soil can increase functional efficiency during restoration and alter community composition. Our methods may prove important across a range of contexts where other restoration methods have failed to restore ecosystem processes to pre-degradation levels.

Project description:Shoot and root litter are two major sources of soil organic carbon, and their decomposition is a crucial nutrient cycling process in the ecosystem. Altitude and land use could affect litter decomposition by changing the environment in mountain grassland ecosystems. However, few studies have investigated the effects of land use on litter decomposition in different altitudes. We examined how land-use type (mowing vs. grazing) affected shoot and root litter decomposition of a dominant grass (Bromus inermis) in mountain grasslands with two different altitudes in northwest China. Litterbags with 6 g of shoot or root were fixed in the plots to decompose for one year. The mass loss rate of the litter, and the environmental attributes related to decomposition, were measured. Litter decomposed faster in mowing than grazing plots, resulting from the higher plant cover and soil moisture but lower bulk density, which might promote soil microbial activities. Increased altitude promoted litter decomposition, and was positively correlated with soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), and β-xylosidase activity. Our results highlight the diverse influences of land-use type on litter decomposition in different altitudes. The positive effects of mowing on shoot decomposition were stronger in lower than higher altitude compared to grazing due to the stronger responses of the plant (e.g., litter and aboveground biomass) and soil (e.g., soil moisture, soil bulk density, and SOC). Soil nutrients (e.g., SOC and soil total nitrogen) seemed to play essential roles in root decomposition, which was increased in mowing plots at lower altitude and vice versa at higher altitude. Therefore, grazing significantly decreased root mass loss at higher altitude, but slightly increased at lower altitude compared to mowing. Our results indicated that the land use might variously regulate the innate differences of the plant and edaphic conditions along an altitude gradient, exerting complex impacts in litter decomposition and further influencing carbon and nutrient cycling in mountain grasslands.

Dataset Information

Grazing Effects of Soil Fauna on White-Rot Fungi: Biomass, Enzyme Production and Litter Decomposition Ability.

Publications

Grazing Effects of Soil Fauna on White-Rot Fungi: Biomass, Enzyme Production and Litter Decomposition Ability.

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