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Sci Total Environ

Title:		Fire and herbivory drive fungal and bacterial communities through distinct above- and belowground mechanisms
Author(s):		Vermeire ML; Thoresen J; Lennard K; Vikram S; Kirkman K; Swemmer AM; Te Beest M; Siebert F; Gordijn P; Venter Z; Brunel C; Wolfaard G; Krumins JA; Cramer MD; Hawkins HJ;
Address:		"Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; IRD, CIRAD, University of Montpellier, PHIM, Montpellier, France. Electronic address: marie-liesse.vermeire@cirad.fr. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa. Computational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, IDM, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Hatfield, Pretoria, South Africa. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), Phalaborwa, South Africa. Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth 6031, South Africa; South African Environmental Observation Network, Grasslands-Forests-Wetlands Node, Montrose 3201, South Africa. Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. South African Environmental Observation Network, Grasslands-Forests-Wetlands Node, Montrose 3201, South Africa. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway (present affiliation). IRD, CIRAD, University of Montpellier, PHIM, Montpellier, France. Sustineri Ecological Consulting (Pty) Ltd., Mbombela 1200, South Africa. Department of Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; Conservation South Africa, 301 Heritage House, Claremont 7375, South Africa"
Journal Title:		Sci Total Environ
Year:		2021
Volume:		20210419
Issue:
Page Number:		147189 -
DOI:		10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147189
ISSN/ISBN:		1879-1026 (Electronic) 0048-9697 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Fire and herbivory are important natural disturbances in grassy biomes. Both drivers are likely to influence belowground microbial communities but no studies have unravelled the long-term impact of both fire and herbivory on bacterial and fungal communities. We hypothesized that soil bacterial communities change through disturbance-induced shifts in soil properties (e.g. pH, nutrients) while soil fungal communities change through vegetation modification (biomass and species composition). To test these ideas, we characterised soil physico-chemical properties (pH, acidity, C, N, P and exchangeable cations content, texture, bulk density, moisture), plant species richness and biomass, microbial biomass and bacterial and fungal community composition and diversity (using 16S and ITS rRNA amplicon sequencing, respectively) in six long-term (18 to 70 years) ecological research sites in South African savanna and grassland ecosystems. We found that fire and herbivory regimes profoundly modified soil physico-chemical properties, plant species richness and standing biomass. In all sites, an increase in woody biomass (ranging from 12 to 50%) was observed when natural disturbances were excluded. The intensity and direction of changes in soil properties were highly dependent on the topo-pedo-climatic context. Overall, fire and herbivory shaped bacterial and fungal communities through distinct driving forces: edaphic properties (including Mg, pH, Ca) for bacteria, and vegetation (herbaceous biomass and woody cover) for fungi. Fire and herbivory explained on average 7.5 and 9.8% of the fungal community variability, respectively, compared to 6.0 and 5.6% for bacteria. The relatively small changes in microbial communities due to natural disturbance is in stark contrast to dramatic vegetation and edaphic changes and suggests that soil microbial communities, having evolved with disturbance, are resistant to change. This represents both a buffer to short-term anthropogenic-induced changes and a restoration challenge in the face of long-term changes"
Keywords:		Bacteria Biomass Ecosystem *Fires Fungi Grassland *Herbivory Soil Soil Microbiology Ecological drivers Next generation sequencing Savanna Soil microbial diversity South Africa;
Notes:		"MedlineVermeire, M-L Thoresen, J Lennard, K Vikram, S Kirkman, K Swemmer, A M Te Beest, M Siebert, F Gordijn, P Venter, Z Brunel, C Wolfaard, G Krumins, J A Cramer, M D Hawkins, H-J eng Netherlands 2021/05/03 Sci Total Environ. 2021 Sep 1; 785:147189. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147189. Epub 2021 Apr 19"