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Forests
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Soil Microbial Ecology in Forest Ecosystems
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Soil Microbial Ecology in Forest Ecosystems

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 September 2024 | Viewed by 2439

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Haijian Bing

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
Interests: biogeochemistry; phosphorus cycling; microbial ecology; biological nitrogen fixation; enzyme activity; element coupling; forest soils; mountain ecosystems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Wenqiang Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
Interests: forest restoration; ecological succession; plant–soil feedback; plant–microbe interaction; soil microbiology; rhizosphere effect; nitrogen availability
Prof. Dr. Linchuan Fang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Green Utilization of Critical Non-Metallic Mineral Resources, Ministry of Education, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Interests: forest ecosystems; climate change; microbes; soil chemistry; nutrient availability; nutrient limitations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystems are the largest global carbon sinks, with the potential to regulate global changes. Soil microbes mediate the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, macro- and micro-nutrients that are vital for life on our planet. Therefore, understanding the structure and functions of the soil microbial community in forests is of significance for ecosystem carbon storage and nutrient dynamics. In the context of global changes and disturbances (e.g., warming, CO2 increase, drought, wildfire, and atmospheric nitrogen deposition), the responses of soil microbes to these changes are complex in forests, largely depending on geographical location, forest type, climate, soil lithology and the performance of specific microbes. Although some of the global changes or disturbances may weaken forest resilience and trigger adverse effects on forest health, carbon storage and nutrient turnover, soil microbes have the potential to protect forests from the external stresses via plant–microbe interactions. In-depth understanding of the key belowground processes in forests is essential to increase the accuracy of terrestrial biogeochemical models.

In this Special Issue, we encourage papers presenting empirical data that address fundamental knowledge gaps in soil microbial ecology in forest ecosystems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Biogeographical patterns and underlying mechanisms of soil microbes in forest ecosystems;
  • Temporal evolution of soil microbial community during forest succession;
  • Responses of soil microbes to climate changes, land management and disturbances;
  • Microbial nutrient limitation in forest soils;
  • Microbe-induced carbon dynamics in forest soils;
  • Microbial role and regulation in nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems;
  • Interactions of plant and microbes on soil functions;
  • Predicting microbe-induced dynamics of soil carbon and nutrients using biogeochemical models.

Dr. Haijian Bing
Dr. Wenqiang Zhao
Prof. Dr. Linchuan Fang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microbial diversity
  • microbiome
  • microbial functions
  • soil carbon
  • nutrient cycling
  • plant–microbe interactions
  • forest ecosystems
  • global changes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 5057 KiB  
Article
Contrasting Altitudinal Patterns and Composition of Soil Bacterial Communities along Stand Types in Larix principis-rupprechtii Forests in Northern China
by Yajie Niu, Xin Li, Chuanxu Wang, Youzhi Han, Zhuo Wang and Jing Yang
Forests 2024, 15(2), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020392 - 19 Feb 2024
Viewed by 678
Abstract
Bacterial communities inhabiting the soil of mountain ecosystems perform critical ecological functions. Although several studies have reported the altitudinal distribution patterns of bacterial communities in warm-temperate mountain forests, our understanding of typical zonal vegetation dominated by Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr (abbreviated as larch hereafter) [...] Read more.
Bacterial communities inhabiting the soil of mountain ecosystems perform critical ecological functions. Although several studies have reported the altitudinal distribution patterns of bacterial communities in warm-temperate mountain forests, our understanding of typical zonal vegetation dominated by Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr (abbreviated as larch hereafter) and the understory elevation distribution patterns of soil bacterial communities is still limited. In this study, the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 sequencing platform was used to investigate the changes of surface and subsurface soil bacterial communities along an altitudinal gradient (from 1720 m to 2250 m) in larch forests in northern China. Altitude significantly affected the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Chloroflexi (bacterial dominant phylum) and Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria (bacterial dominant classes). The diversity of bacterial communities showed a concomitant increase with altitude. The variations in available nitrogen and soil temperature content at different altitudes were the main factors explaining the bacterial community structures in pure stands and mixed stands, respectively. Altitude and the contents of soil organic carbon and soil organic matter were the main factors explaining the dominant phylum (taxonomy). Our results suggest that stand type has a greater effect on the structure and composition of soil bacterial communities than elevation and soil depth, and bacterial communities show divergent patterns along the altitudes, stand types, and soil profiles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Ecology in Forest Ecosystems)
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22 pages, 5183 KiB  
Article
Wildfires’ Effect on Soil Properties and Bacterial Biodiversity of Postpyrogenic Histic Podzols (Middle Taiga, Komi Republic)
by Ekaterina Yu. Chebykina, Evgeny V. Abakumov, Anastasiia K. Kimeklis, Grigory V. Gladkov, Evgeny E. Andronov and Alexey A. Dymov
Forests 2024, 15(1), 145; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15010145 - 10 Jan 2024
Viewed by 797
Abstract
Data on the main properties of Histic Podzols in the pine forests of semi-hydromorphic landscapes in the middle taiga of the Komi Republic after forest fires are presented. A decrease in topsoil horizon thickness by more than 7.6 times, an increase in litter [...] Read more.
Data on the main properties of Histic Podzols in the pine forests of semi-hydromorphic landscapes in the middle taiga of the Komi Republic after forest fires are presented. A decrease in topsoil horizon thickness by more than 7.6 times, an increase in litter density by 6 times, and a decrease in litter stock by 4 times were observed in postfire soil. There was an increase in carbon content in the pyrogenic horizon (48%) and in the upper part of the podzolic horizon—from 0.49 at the control plot to 1.16% after the fire. The accumulation of all studied trace metals (Cu—from 2.5 to 6.8 mg × kg−1; Zn—from 35.7 to 127.4 mg × kg−1; Ni—from 2.2 to 8.1 mg × kg−1; Pb—from 1.4 to 28.3 mg × kg−1; Cd—from 0.3 to 1.1 mg × kg−1) in soils after wildfires was recorded. The effect of the fire can be traced to a depth of approximately 20–30 cm. A significant influence of the pyrogenic factor on the alpha and beta bacterial diversity was noted. The bacterial response to a forest fire can be divided into an increased proportion of spore-forming and Gram-negative species with complex metabolism as well. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Ecology in Forest Ecosystems)
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14 pages, 3112 KiB  
Article
Keystone Microbial Species Drive the Responses of Saline–Alkali Soil to Three-Year Amendment Measures
by Shilin Ma, Xiaowu Liu, Jing Liu, Jingyi Zeng, Xiaochun Zhou, Zhaohui Jia, Chong Li, Huimei Leng, Xin Liu and Jinchi Zhang
Forests 2023, 14(12), 2295; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14122295 - 23 Nov 2023
Viewed by 680
Abstract
Saline–alkali soils exhibit ionic toxicities associated with neutral salinity, as well as a high pH that hinders the exclusion of sodium ions and absorption of vital nutrients; thus, obstructing the development of coastal shelterbelts. A three-year field experiment using a high-soil-pH site was [...] Read more.
Saline–alkali soils exhibit ionic toxicities associated with neutral salinity, as well as a high pH that hinders the exclusion of sodium ions and absorption of vital nutrients; thus, obstructing the development of coastal shelterbelts. A three-year field experiment using a high-soil-pH site was conducted for this study to investigate the influences of five prospective amendments on the soil microenvironments of different soil layers compared to a control. Firstly, the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were found to be the most predominant in the samples. As for the fungi phylum, Ascomycota was identified as the most abundant. Similar to Module 1’s findings, the relative abundances of Ascomycota varied across treatments. Additionally, differences in the ACE index were primarily observed in the deeper soil layers, where all five soil amendments increased the bacterial ACE index compared to the CK (no additive). Only the BA (biochar mixed with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) and AM (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on its own) treatments significantly increased the fungal ACE index. In the 20–40 cm soil layer, the pH value of the control group was significantly higher than that of all other treatments, except for the AM treatment. However, the AM treatment induced significantly higher soil enzyme activities and available nutrients compared to the CK. Moreover, the Mantel test showed significant correlations between the Module 1 community, the generalist (microbial species that serve as module hubs and connectors, primarily for Acidobacteria) community and soil pH, electrical conductivity, enzyme activities, as well as bacterial and fungal ACE indices. Pearson’s correlation revealed a significantly positive association between enzyme activities and available nutrients. Our findings suggested that keystone microbial species have the potential to improve the availability of soil nutrients through the regulation of microbial diversity and stimulation of soil enzyme activities, to ultimately ameliorate saline–alkali soil. Furthermore, the application of AM in combination with an appropriate amount of biochar is a preferred strategy for the improvement of saline–alkali soils. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Ecology in Forest Ecosystems)
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