Temporal variation in soil bacterial communities can be confounded with spatial variation. Issue 12 (19th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hermans, Syrie M; Buckley, Hannah L; Curran-Cournane, Fiona; Taylor, Matthew; Lear, Gavin
• Is Part Of: FEMS microbiology ecology. Volume 96:Issue 12(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09-19
• Subjects: 16S rRNA -- soil microbial ecology -- spatial variation -- temporal variation -- native forests -- primary forests -- environmental monitoring -- soil health; Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa192
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0168-6496

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Investigating temporal variation in soil bacterial communities advances our fundamental understanding of the causal processes driving biological variation, and how the composition of these important ecosystem members may change into the future. Despite this, temporal variation in soil bacteria remains understudied, and the effects of spatial heterogeneity in bacterial communities on the detection of temporal changes is largely unknown. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we evaluated temporal patterns in soil bacterial communities from indigenous forest and human-impacted sites sampled repeatedly over a 5-year period. Temporal variation appeared to be greater when fewer spatial samples per site were analysed, as well as in human-impacted compared to indigenous sites ( P < 0.01 for both). The biggest portion of variation in bacterial community richness and composition was explained by soil physicochemical variables (13–24%) rather than spatial distance or sampling time (<1%). These results highlight the importance of adequate spatiotemporal replication when sampling soil communities for environmental monitoring, and the importance of conducting temporal research across a wide variety of land uses. This will ensure we have a true understanding of how bacterial communities change over space and time; the work presented here provides important considerations for how such research should be designed. Abstract : By sampling soil bacterial communities repeatedly over a period of 5 years, we showed that, overall, temporal variation was minimal, can be confounded by spatial variation and varies according to land use.