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Title: Bacterial, fungal, and plant communities exhibit no biomass or compositional response to two years of simulated nitrogen deposition in a semiarid grassland: Bacterial, fungal, and plant communities

Journal Article · · Environmental Microbiology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [3];  [4]
  1. U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT (United States). Southwest Biological Science Center; Colorado Mesa Univ., Grand Junction, CO (United States)
  2. West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  4. U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT (United States). Southwest Biological Science Center

Nitrogen (N) deposition affects myriad aspects of terrestrial ecosystem structure and function, and microbial communities may be particularly sensitive to anthropogenic N inputs. However, our understanding of N deposition effects on microbial communities is far from complete, especially for drylands where data are comparatively rare. To address the need for an improved understanding of dryland biological responses to N deposition, we conducted a two-year fertilization experiment in a semiarid grassland on the Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States. We evaluated effects of varied levels of N inputs on archaeal, bacterial, fungal and chlorophyte community composition within three microhabitats: biological soil crusts (biocrusts), soil below biocrusts, and the plant rhizosphere. Surprisingly, N addition did not affect the community composition or diversity of any of these microbial groups; however, microbial community composition varied significantly among sampling microhabitats. Further, while plant richness, diversity, and cover showed no response to N addition, there were strong linkages between plant properties and microbial community structure. Overall, these findings highlight the potential for some dryland communities to have limited biotic ability to retain augmented N inputs, possibly leading to large N losses to the atmosphere and to aquatic systems.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1414108
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-22347
Journal Information:
Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 19, Issue 4; ISSN 1462-2912
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 41 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Phylogenetic conservation of bacterial responses to soil nitrogen addition across continents journal June 2019
Resource Availability Drives Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Short-term Precipitation and Nitrogen Addition in a Desert Shrubland journal February 2018
Phylogenetic conservation of bacterial responses to soil nitrogen addition across continents journal June 2019
Resource Availability Drives Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Short-term Precipitation and Nitrogen Addition in a Desert Shrubland journal February 2018
Life history responses of two ephemeral plant species to increased precipitation and nitrogen in the Gurbantunggut Desert journal January 2019