Changes in soil microbial biomass and community composition along vegetation zonation in a coastal sand dune
Shinpei Yoshitake A B and Takayuki Nakatsubo AA Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, 7-1 Kagamiyama 1-chome, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8521, Japan.
B Corresponding author. Email: syoshitake@kurenai.waseda.jp
Australian Journal of Soil Research 46(4) 390-396 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR07104
Submitted: 20 July 2007 Accepted: 7 April 2008 Published: 23 June 2008
Abstract
We used phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis to examine the relation of microbial biomass and community composition to vegetation zonation on a coastal sand dune. Soil samples were collected along 3 line transects established from the shoreline to the inland bush. Total PLFA content and PLFA composition of soils were used as indices of total microbial biomass and community composition, respectively. The microbial biomass was much higher in the inland Vitex rotundifolia zone than in the seaside plots. The microbial community composition also differed among the vegetation zones, with a higher contribution of fungal biomarkers in the inland plots. The microbial biomass increased significantly with increasing soil organic matter (SOM) content, but was not correlated with soil salinity. These results suggest that microbial biomass in the coastal sand dune was controlled primarily by the accumulation of SOM. The microbial community composition also changed with SOM content in the seaside plots, but SOM had little effect in the inland plots. These results suggest that the factors limiting the microbial community composition differed with location on the dune.
Additional keywords: phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), salinity, soil organic matter (SOM).
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr N. Sakurai, of Hiroshima University, for the laboratory facilities. We thank Mr Y. Mouri, of the Natural Science Center for Basic Research and Development (N-BARD), Hiroshima University, for measuring the carbon and nitrogen contents of samples. This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan with a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows, 2007.
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