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Microorganisms
Special Issues
Soil Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functions 2.0
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Soil Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functions 2.0

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2024 | Viewed by 1467

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Efimia M. Papatheodorou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ecology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: soil microbial community structure and function; enzymes in soil; soil restoration; soil quality and agricultural practices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil microbial communities play essential roles in maintaining ecosystem functions such as litter decomposition, mineralization, nitrification and denitrification, exerting control on primary production, soil fertility and the emission of gases. Disturbances inducing changes in habitat connectivity, nutrient inputs and global environmental variables due to changes in land use and climate affect the composition and structure of soil microbial communities, with subsequent changes in ecosystem functions. However, the relationship between the community assemblage and a specific function or an index of multifunctionality could be affected by a variety of factors. These are variables used to assess community organization (functional diversity, species richness, composition, co-occurrence patterns), those referred to the taxonomic level of the community organization as well as variables that are related to the spatial scale of community (local, global or in the cross-boundary areas). Most studies have explored the relationship between species/taxa richness and functions, and there is a gap concerning the relationship between the co-occurrence patterns of microbes and the functionality of an ecosystem. Furthermore, information concerning the influence of the spatial scale of analysis or the temporal pattern of the environmental changes (constant or with oscillations) is very rare. Knowledge of the relationship between soil microbes and soil functionality could be extremely useful for conservation, restoration and management efforts.

In this Special Issue of Microorganisms, we invite authors to send their contributions concerning any aspect that could affect the relationship between microbial organization and soil functionality: metrics of analysis, spatial scale or different environmental conditions, as well as the influence of perturbations on the above-mentioned relationships. For this Special Issue, we welcome original research papers, review articles, and short communications. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, ecology, microbiology, and biogeography.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Efimia M. Papatheodorou
Guest Editor

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. Microorganisms 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 2700 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

  • soil functionality
  • functional diversity
  • soil microbial communities
  • disturbances
  • co-occurrence patterns
  • environmental oscillations
  • microbial assemblages

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2786 KiB  
Article
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Rhizobium Improve Nutrient Uptake and Microbial Diversity Relative to Dryland Site-Specific Soil Conditions
by Rosalie B. Calderon and Sadikshya R. Dangi
Microorganisms 2024, 12(4), 667; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12040667 - 27 Mar 2024
Viewed by 679
Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobium play a significant role in plant symbiosis. However, their influence on the rhizosphere soil microbiome associated with nutrient acquisition and soil health is not well defined in the drylands of Montana (MT), USA. This study investigated the [...] Read more.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobium play a significant role in plant symbiosis. However, their influence on the rhizosphere soil microbiome associated with nutrient acquisition and soil health is not well defined in the drylands of Montana (MT), USA. This study investigated the effect of microbial inoculants as seed treatment on pea yield, nutrient uptake, potential microbial functions, and rhizosphere soil microbial communities using high-throughput sequencing of 16S and ITS rRNA genes. The experiment was conducted under two contrasting dryland conditions with four treatments: control, single inoculation with AMF or Rhizobium, and dual inoculations of AMF and Rhizobium (AMF+Rhizobium). Our findings revealed that microbial inoculation efficacy was site-specific. AMF+Rhizobium synergistically increased grain yield at Sidney dryland field site (DFS) 2, while at Froid site, DFS 1, AMF improved plant resilience to acidic soil but contributed a marginal yield under non-nutrient limiting conditions. Across dryland sites, the plants’ microbial dependency on AMF+Rhizobium (12%) was higher than single inoculations of AMF (8%) or Rhizobium (4%) alone. Variations in microbial community structure and composition indicate a site-specific response to AMF and AMF+Rhizobium inoculants. Overall, site-specific factors significantly influenced plant nutrient uptake, microbial community dynamics, and functional potential. It underscores the need for tailored management strategies that consider site-specific characteristics to optimize benefits from microbial inoculation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functions 2.0)
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16 pages, 2917 KiB  
Article
Afforestation-Induced Shifts in Soil Bacterial Diversity and Community Structure in the Saihanba Region
by Kai-Chuan Huang, Wen Zhao, Jun-Ning Li, Reyila Mumin, Chang-Ge Song, Hao Wang, Yi-Fei Sun and Bao-Kai Cui
Microorganisms 2024, 12(3), 479; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12030479 - 27 Feb 2024
Viewed by 587
Abstract
Afforestation plays a pivotal role in ecosystem restoration, exemplified by the Saihanba Mechanized Forest Farm, the world’s largest planted forest; however, the assembly mechanisms and interactions of soil microbial communities in such forests remain inadequately understood. This study aimed to elucidate the impact [...] Read more.
Afforestation plays a pivotal role in ecosystem restoration, exemplified by the Saihanba Mechanized Forest Farm, the world’s largest planted forest; however, the assembly mechanisms and interactions of soil microbial communities in such forests remain inadequately understood. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of different afforestation tree species, namely Larix gmelinii var. principis-rupprechtii, Picea asperata, and Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica, on soil bacterial diversity and community structure in comparison to grassland. Sixty soil samples were collected at a 20 cm depth, and high-throughput sequencing was employed to identify bacterial communities and assess their interactions with environmental factors. A total of 6528 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified, with Solirubrobacter, Conexibacter, Bacillus, Massilia, Gaiella, Acidibacter, and Vicinamibacter being the dominant genera. Afforestation significantly impacted soil bacterial alpha diversity, with notable influence from key soil chemical properties, including available phosphorus (AP), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of soil organic matter (SOM-C/N). The Mantel test highlighted pH, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and spatial variable (dbMEM) as primary environmental factors influencing dominant bacterial genera. The bacterial community structure demonstrated deterministic homogeneous selection, wherein SOM-C/N emerged as a significant factor influencing the dissimilarity of soil bacterial communities. Furthermore, plantation soils exhibited a more complex network structure than grassland soil, highlighting the crucial role of bacterial communities in vegetation changes and providing valuable insights into their response to environmental factors during the reforestation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functions 2.0)
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