Closing the gap: examining the impact of source habitat proximity on plant and soil microbial communities in post-mining spoil heap succession

Abstract

Introduction: Revegetation of barren substrates is often determined by the composition and distance of the nearest plant community, serving as a source of colonizing propagules. Whether such dispersal effect can be observed during the development of soil microbial communities, is not clear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate which factors structure plant and soil bacterial and fungal communities during primary succession on a limestone quarry spoil heap, focusing on the effect of distance to the adjoining xerophilous grassland.Methods: We established a grid of 35 plots covering three successional stages - initial barren substrate, early successional community and late successional grassland ecosystem, the latter serving as the primary source of soil colonization. On these plots, we performed vegetation surveys of plant community composition and collected soil cores to analyze soil chemical properties and bacterial and fungal community composition.Results: The composition of early successional plant community was significantly affected by the proximity of the source late successional community, however, the effect weakened when the distance exceeded 20 m. Early successional microbial communities were structured mainly by the local plant community composition and soil chemical properties, with minimal contribution of the source community proximity.Discussion: These results show that on small spatial scales, species migration is an important determinant of plant community composition during primary succession while the establishment of soil microbial communities is not limited by dispersal and is primarily driven by local biotic and abiotic conditions.

Keywords

soil bacterial community; soil fungal community; primary succession; source habitat proximity; temperate grassland

Published in

Frontiers in Microbiology
2024, volume: 15, article number: 1416515
Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA

SLU Authors

• Kutáková, Eliška

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Charles University
  • Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences

UKÄ Subject classification

Soil Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1416515

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/133053