Dimitriou, Ioannis
- Department of Crop Production Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Short rotation coppice (SRC) is increasingly being adopted for bioenergy production, pollution remediation and land restoration. However, its long-term effects on soil microbial communities are poorly characterized. Here, we studied soil microbial functional genes and their biogeographic pattern under SRC with willow trees as compared to those under permanent grassland (C). GeoChip analysis showed a lower functional gene diversity in SRC than in C soil, whereas microbial ATP and respiration did not change. The SRC soil had lower relative abundances of microbial genes encoding for metal(-oid) resistance, antibiotic resistance and stress-related proteins. This indicates a more benign habitat under SRC for microbial communities after relieving heavy metal stress, consistent with the lower phytoavailability of some metals (i.e., As, Cd, Ni and Zn) and higher total organic carbon, NO3--N and P concentrations. The microbial taxa-area relationship was valid in both soils, but the space turnover rate was higher under SRC within 0.125 m(2), which was possibly linked to a more benign environment under SRC, whereas similar values were reached beyond thisarea. Overall, we concluded that SRC management can be considered as a phytotechnology that ameliorates the habitat for soil microorganisms, owing to TOC and nutrient enrichment on the long-term.
Keywords
functional gene diversity; short rotation coppice phytotechnology; soil microbial community; soil pollution; phytoremediation; biogeographic pattern
Published in
Microorganisms
2022, volume: 10, number: 1, article number: 140
Publisher: MDPI
SLU Authors
Associated SLU-program
AMR: Bacteria
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Soil Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10010140
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/116004