Copper pollution decreases the resistance of soil microbial community to subsequent dry–rewetting disturbance

Dry–rewetting（DW） disturbance frequently occurs in soils due to rainfall and irrigation, and the frequency of DW cycles might exert significant influences on soil microbial communities and their mediated functions. However, how microorganisms respond to DW alternations in soils with a history of heavy metal pollution remains largely unknown.Here, soil laboratory microcosms were constructed to explore the impacts of ten DW cycles on the soil microbial communities in two contrasting soils（fluvo-aquic soil and red soil）under three copper concentrations（zero, medium and high）. Results showed that the fluctuations of substrate induced respiration（SIR） decreased with repeated cycles of DW alternation. Furthermore, the resistance values of substrate induced respiration（RS-SIR）were highest in non-copper-stressed（zero） soils. Structural equation model（SEM） analysis ascertained that the shifts of bacterial communities determined the changes of RS-SIR in both soils. The rate of bacterial community variance was significantly lower in noncopper-stressed soil compared to the other two copper-stressed（medium and high） soils,which might lead to the higher RS-SIR in the fluvo-aquic soil. As for the red soil, the substantial increase of the dominant group WPS-2 after DW disturbance might result in the low RS-SIR in the high copper-stressed soil. Moreover, in both soils, the bacterial diversity was highest in non-copper-stressed soils. Our results revealed that initial copper stress could decrease the resistance of soil microbial community structure and function to subsequent DW disturbance.

A review of diversity-stability relationship of soil microbial community:What do we not know?

The impact of decreased biodiversity on ecosystem stability,or the diversity-stability （D-S） relationship,is one of the major concerns of modern ecological studies.Studies on the D-S relationship for soil microbial communities began in 2000 when the fumigation method was developed to generate different levels of soil microbial biodiversity.The studies used various measures and levels of biodiversity,and covered several functional parameters.Due to the lack of general concepts and reliable approaches to define microbial species,studies on the D-S relationship of soil microbial communities concentrate on genetic diversity and functional diversity more than species diversity.Contradictory results were observed in various studies on D-S relationship with possible factors affecting or even changing the directions of the D-S relationship including：（1） the methods of stability measurement,（2） the techniques in microbial diversity measurement,（3） the measures and levels of diversity,（4） the type and strength of disturbance,（5） the traits of functions,and （6） the hidden treatments stemming from diversity manipulation.We argue that future studies should take diversity,species composition and interaction,and soil environmental conditions holistically into account in D-S studies to develop modeling to predict soil functional stability.We also suggest that studies should be carried out on a wider range of disturbance types and functional parameters,and efforts be shifted towards long-term field studies.