Salinity-induced differences in soil microbial communities around the hypersaline Lake Urmia
Mohsen Barin A D , Nasser Aliasgharzad A , Pål Axel Olsson B and MirHassan Rasouli-Sadaghiani C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz 5166616471, Islamic Republic of Iran.
B Biodiversity, Department of Biology, Ecology Building, Lund University, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden.
C Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Urmia, PO Box 165, Urmia 57134, Islamic Republic of Iran.
D Corresponding author. Email: barin.mohsen@yahoo.com; m.barin@tabrizu.ac.ir
Soil Research 53(5) 494-504 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR14090
Submitted: 12 April 2014 Accepted: 15 August 2014 Published: 12 March 2015
Abstract
Lake Urmia in north-western Iran is one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world, and agricultural production in the surrounding area is limited by soil salinity. We investigated the effects of salinity on belowground microbial communities in soils collected from fields of cultivated onions (Allium cepa L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), and sites with the native halophyte samphire (Salicornia europaea L.). We tested the hypotheses that salinity reduces microbial biomass and changes the structure of the microbial community. The physical and chemical properties of soil samples were analysed, and phospholipid fatty acids were identified as signatures for various microbial groups. We found that the organic carbon (OC) content was the dominant determinant of microbial biomass. We also found linear relationships between OC and the biomass of various groups of organisms across the wide salinity gradient studied. Salinity, on the other hand, caused changes in the microbial fatty acid composition that indicated adaptation to stress and favoured saprotrophic fungi over bacteria, and Gram-negative bacteria over Gram-positive. Principal component analysis showed that salinity variables and microbial stress indices formed one group, and OC and microbial biomass another. The importance of OC for high microbial biomass in severely stressed soils indicates that OC amendment may be used to mitigate salt stress and as a method of managing saline soils.
Additional keywords: microbial community structure PLFA, salinity, soil microbial biomass, soil properties.
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