Atmospheric nitrogen deposition and precipitation as an important phenomenon of global climate change have a great impact on grassland ecosystems. However, little is known about how the soil ammonia-oxidizing microorg...Atmospheric nitrogen deposition and precipitation as an important phenomenon of global climate change have a great impact on grassland ecosystems. However, little is known about how the soil ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms respond to the both changes. Ammonia oxidization is a crucial step in the soil nitrification and greatly inlfuenced by soil nitrogen availability. We used PCR and DGGE （denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis） approaches to investigate the responses of AOB （ammonia-oxidizing bacteria） 16S rRNA and AOA （ammonia-oxidizing archaea）amoA genes to nitrogen and water input inStipa baicalensis steppe, Inner Mongolia, northern China. After two years of nitrogen and water addition treatment, it was found that PNA （potential nitriifcation activity） was greatly enhanced by lower N fertilization treatment under water addition and higher N fertilization under no-water addition, while it decreased markedly in higher N fertilization under water addition. The community structure of AOB responded more sensitively to N fertilization and water input than AOA, resulting in the significantly decreased diversity in the AOB community along with a higher N fertilizer rate, but an obvious increase in the AOA community, demonstrating the active growth of AOA in higher N fertilization soils. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AOB communities were dominated byNitrosospira clusters3, 4 andNitrososmonas clusters 6 under water addition andNitrosospira culsters 1, 3 and 4 and under no-water addition, while AOA communities were grouped intoCrenarchaeote clusters 1, 2 and 5 under no-water addition and Crenarchaeote clusters 1, 2 and water lineage under water addition. The differences between the two water addition regimes strongly suggest that water input acts as an important role in shifting AOA and AOB communities. Moreover, in contrast to the AOA, the diversity of AOB was negatively correlated with total N, NH4^＋, NO3^- and pH under water addition, implying a signiifcant N fertilization and water effect on shaping AOA and AOB communities. In conclusion, our studies suggested that N fertilization and water addition and their composite effects had signiifcantly changed AOB and AOA communities, meanwhile, AOB and AOA communities could develop a desirable complementary mechanism in response to external changes.展开更多
In 1997, we conducted a vegetation survey in three semi-arid natural grasslands （steppes） with different livestock grazing intensities in Southwest Heilongjiang Province, China, The dominant grassland species was th...In 1997, we conducted a vegetation survey in three semi-arid natural grasslands （steppes） with different livestock grazing intensities in Southwest Heilongjiang Province, China, The dominant grassland species was the grass Stipa baicalensis Roshev. Grasslands with light, intermediate, and heavy grazing intensities were located 10, 5, and 2 km from a village, respectively. Villagers use the steppe to raise cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. Each of the three grasslands was surveyed by placing 100 quadrats （50 cm×50 cm） along a 50 m line transect. Each quadrat was divided into four equal areas （25 cm×25 cm; S-quadrats） and all plant species occurring in each of these smaller areas were identified and recorded. These data were summarized into frequency distributions and the percentage of S-quadrats containing a given species and the variance of each species were estimated. The power law was applied to these estimates. The power law was used to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity and frequency of occurrence for each species in the grassland community. The lightly grazed grassland exhibited high spatial heterogeneity （caused by large plant size）, the highest species diversity, and a high occurrence of S. baicalensis. In contrast, the heavily grazed grassland exhibited high spatial heterogeneity （caused by patchy populations of small plant size）, low species diversity, and a low occurrence of S. baicalensis. We judged that the heavily grazed grassland was overgrazed and exclusion of livestock from the degraded areas is necessary for recovery.展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(31170435,31000242)
文摘Atmospheric nitrogen deposition and precipitation as an important phenomenon of global climate change have a great impact on grassland ecosystems. However, little is known about how the soil ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms respond to the both changes. Ammonia oxidization is a crucial step in the soil nitrification and greatly inlfuenced by soil nitrogen availability. We used PCR and DGGE （denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis） approaches to investigate the responses of AOB （ammonia-oxidizing bacteria） 16S rRNA and AOA （ammonia-oxidizing archaea）amoA genes to nitrogen and water input inStipa baicalensis steppe, Inner Mongolia, northern China. After two years of nitrogen and water addition treatment, it was found that PNA （potential nitriifcation activity） was greatly enhanced by lower N fertilization treatment under water addition and higher N fertilization under no-water addition, while it decreased markedly in higher N fertilization under water addition. The community structure of AOB responded more sensitively to N fertilization and water input than AOA, resulting in the significantly decreased diversity in the AOB community along with a higher N fertilizer rate, but an obvious increase in the AOA community, demonstrating the active growth of AOA in higher N fertilization soils. Phylogenetic analysis showed that AOB communities were dominated byNitrosospira clusters3, 4 andNitrososmonas clusters 6 under water addition andNitrosospira culsters 1, 3 and 4 and under no-water addition, while AOA communities were grouped intoCrenarchaeote clusters 1, 2 and 5 under no-water addition and Crenarchaeote clusters 1, 2 and water lineage under water addition. The differences between the two water addition regimes strongly suggest that water input acts as an important role in shifting AOA and AOB communities. Moreover, in contrast to the AOA, the diversity of AOB was negatively correlated with total N, NH4^＋, NO3^- and pH under water addition, implying a signiifcant N fertilization and water effect on shaping AOA and AOB communities. In conclusion, our studies suggested that N fertilization and water addition and their composite effects had signiifcantly changed AOB and AOA communities, meanwhile, AOB and AOA communities could develop a desirable complementary mechanism in response to external changes.
文摘In 1997, we conducted a vegetation survey in three semi-arid natural grasslands （steppes） with different livestock grazing intensities in Southwest Heilongjiang Province, China, The dominant grassland species was the grass Stipa baicalensis Roshev. Grasslands with light, intermediate, and heavy grazing intensities were located 10, 5, and 2 km from a village, respectively. Villagers use the steppe to raise cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. Each of the three grasslands was surveyed by placing 100 quadrats （50 cm×50 cm） along a 50 m line transect. Each quadrat was divided into four equal areas （25 cm×25 cm; S-quadrats） and all plant species occurring in each of these smaller areas were identified and recorded. These data were summarized into frequency distributions and the percentage of S-quadrats containing a given species and the variance of each species were estimated. The power law was applied to these estimates. The power law was used to evaluate the spatial heterogeneity and frequency of occurrence for each species in the grassland community. The lightly grazed grassland exhibited high spatial heterogeneity （caused by large plant size）, the highest species diversity, and a high occurrence of S. baicalensis. In contrast, the heavily grazed grassland exhibited high spatial heterogeneity （caused by patchy populations of small plant size）, low species diversity, and a low occurrence of S. baicalensis. We judged that the heavily grazed grassland was overgrazed and exclusion of livestock from the degraded areas is necessary for recovery.
