Perennials but not slope aspect affect the diversity of soil bacterial communities in the northern Negev Desert, Israel
Ahuva Vonshak A , Menachem Y. Sklarz B , Ann M. Hirsch C and Osnat Gillor A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
B Bioinformatics Core Facility, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
C Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
D Corresponding author. Email: gilloro@bgu.ac.il
Soil Research 56(2) 123-128 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR17010
Submitted: 9 January 2017 Accepted: 25 July 2017 Published: 18 December 2017
Abstract
Underneath the canopy of perennials in arid regions, moderate soil temperature and evaporation, as well as plant litter create islands of higher fertility in the low-productivity landscape, known as ‘resource islands’. The sparse distribution of these resource islands is mirrored by soil microbial communities, which mediate a large number of biogeochemical transformations underneath the plants. We explored the link between the bacterial community composition and two prevalent desert shrubs, Zygophyllum dumosum and Artemisia herba-alba, on northern- and southern-facing slopes in the northern highlands of the Negev Desert (Israel), at the end of a drought winter mild rainy season. We sequenced the bacterial community and analysed the physicochemical properties of the soil under the shrub canopies and from barren soil in replicate slopes. The soil bacterial diversity was independent of slope aspect, but differed according to shrub presence or type. Links between soil bacterial community composition and their associated desert shrubs were found, enabling us to link bacterial diversity with shrub type or barren soils. Our results suggest that plants and their associated bacterial communities are connected to survival and persistence under the harsh desert conditions.
Additional keywords: 16S rRNA, desert plants, next generation sequencing, ecosystem engineer, fertility island.
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