Erosion reduces soil microbial diversity, network complexity and multifunctionality

Liping Qiu; Qian Zhang; Hansong Zhu; Peter B Reich; Samiran Banerjee; Marcel G A van der Heijden; Michael J Sadowsky; Satoshi Ishii; Xiaoxu Jia; Mingan Shao; Baoyuan Liu; Huan Jiao; Haiqiang Li; Xiaorong Wei

doi:10.1038/s41396-021-00913-1

Erosion reduces soil microbial diversity, network complexity and multifunctionality

ISME J. 2021 Aug;15(8):2474-2489. doi: 10.1038/s41396-021-00913-1. Epub 2021 Mar 12.

Authors

Liping Qiu^#^{1

2

3}, Qian Zhang^#^{4

5}, Hansong Zhu^#^{1

3}, Peter B Reich^{6

7}, Samiran Banerjee⁸, Marcel G A van der Heijden^{9

10}, Michael J Sadowsky^{4

11}, Satoshi Ishii^{4

11}, Xiaoxu Jia^{1

12}, Mingan Shao^{1

12}, Baoyuan Liu¹, Huan Jiao^{1

3}, Haiqiang Li^{1

3}, Xiaorong Wei^{13

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
² CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
³ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
⁴ BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁵ College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
⁶ Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁷ Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith South DC, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Department of Microbiological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, USA.
⁹ Agroscope, Department of Agroecology & Environment, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹¹ Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
¹² Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹³ State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China. weixr@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
¹⁴ CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. weixr@nwsuaf.edu.cn.
¹⁵ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. weixr@nwsuaf.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

While soil erosion drives land degradation, the impact of erosion on soil microbial communities and multiple soil functions remains unclear. This hinders our ability to assess the true impact of erosion on soil ecosystem services and our ability to restore eroded environments. Here we examined the effect of erosion on microbial communities at two sites with contrasting soil texture and climates. Eroded plots had lower microbial network complexity, fewer microbial taxa, and fewer associations among microbial taxa, relative to non-eroded plots. Soil erosion also shifted microbial community composition, with decreased relative abundances of dominant phyla such as Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Gemmatimonadetes. In contrast, erosion led to an increase in the relative abundances of some bacterial families involved in N cycling, such as Acetobacteraceae and Beijerinckiaceae. Changes in microbiota characteristics were strongly related with erosion-induced changes in soil multifunctionality. Together, these results demonstrate that soil erosion has a significant negative impact on soil microbial diversity and functionality.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacteria / genetics
Humans
Microbial Consortia
Microbiota*
Soil Microbiology
Soil*

Substances

Soil