Biogeography of soil microbial habitats across France. Issue 8 (28th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Karimi, Battle; Villerd, Jean; Dequiedt, Samuel; Terrat, Sébastien; Chemidlin‐Prévost Bouré, Nicolas; Djemiel, Christophe; Lelièvre, Mélanie; Tripied, Julie; Nowak, Virginie; Saby, Nicolas P. A.; Bispo, Antonio; Jolivet, Claudy; Arrouays, Dominique; Wincker, Patrick; Cruaud, Corinne; Ranjard, Lionel
• Editors: Mitchell, Edward
• Is Part Of: Global ecology & biogeography. Volume 29:Issue 8(2020)
• Page Start: 1399
• Page End: 1411
• Publication Date: 2020-05-28
• Subjects: biogeography -- habitats -- land use -- microbial community -- national scale -- soil; Ecology -- Periodicals; Biogeography -- Periodicals; Biodiversity -- Periodicals; Macroevolution -- Periodicals; 577
• DOI: 10.1111/geb.13118
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1466-822X

Abstract

Abstract: Aim: Intensive studies since the beginning of the 21st century have provided vast amounts of knowledge about soil microbial diversity at local and global scales. However, microbial habitats have been poorly investigated at large scale. This study aims to characterize soil bacterial habitats across France for the first time by integrating the description of numerous environmental factors and human activities. Location: We focus on the large spatial scale of mainland France using the largest spatially explicit soil sampling set available across France (2, 173 soils, area = 5.5 × 10 5 km 2 ). Major taxa studied: Soil bacteria and archaea were studied by a high throughput sequencing approach targeting the V3‐V4 region of the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid ( rRNA ) gene directly amplified from soil DNA. Methods: We applied decision tree learning and geostatistical approaches combining the abundant data on soil microbes and large‐scale environmental description in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of soil bacterial and archaeal communities. Results: We identified a complex mosaic of 16 distinct terrestrial habitats, based on soil type and management (pH, C : N ratio, land use). As for plants and animals, each habitat hosted generalist and specialist taxa and a specific interaction network directly or indirectly impacted by human activities. Main conclusions: In a context of global change, our results emphasize that the policies for biodiversity and habitat conservation should now integrate soil microorganisms conceptually and technically.