TY - JOUR

T1 - Autogenic succession and deterministic recovery following disturbance in soil bacterial communities

AU - Jurburg, Stephanie D.

AU - Nunes, Ines Marques

AU - Stegen, James C.

AU - Le Roux, Xavier

AU - Priemé, Anders

AU - Sørensen, Søren Johannes

AU - Salles, Joana Falcão

PY - 2017/4/6

Y1 - 2017/4/6

N2 - The response of bacterial communities to environmental change may affect local to global nutrient cycles. However the dynamics of these communities following disturbance are poorly understood, given that they are often evaluated over macro-ecological time scales and end-point measurements. In order to understand the successional trajectory of soil bacterial communities following disturbances and the mechanisms controlling these dynamics at a scale relevant for these organisms, we subjected soil microcosms to a heat disturbance and followed the community composition of active bacteria over 50 days. The disturbance imposed a strong selective pressure that persisted for up to 10 days, after which the importance of stochastic processes increased. Three successional stages were detected: a primary response in which surviving taxa increased in abundance; a secondary response phase during which community dynamics slowed down, and a stability phase (after 29 days), during which the community tended towards its original composition. Phylogenetic turnover patterns indicated that the community experienced stronger deterministic selection during recovery. Thus, soil bacterial communities, despite their extreme diversity and functional redundancy, respond to disturbances like many macro-ecological systems and exhibit path-dependent, autogenic dynamics during secondary succession. These results highlight the role of autogenic factors and successional dynamics in microbial recovery.

AB - The response of bacterial communities to environmental change may affect local to global nutrient cycles. However the dynamics of these communities following disturbance are poorly understood, given that they are often evaluated over macro-ecological time scales and end-point measurements. In order to understand the successional trajectory of soil bacterial communities following disturbances and the mechanisms controlling these dynamics at a scale relevant for these organisms, we subjected soil microcosms to a heat disturbance and followed the community composition of active bacteria over 50 days. The disturbance imposed a strong selective pressure that persisted for up to 10 days, after which the importance of stochastic processes increased. Three successional stages were detected: a primary response in which surviving taxa increased in abundance; a secondary response phase during which community dynamics slowed down, and a stability phase (after 29 days), during which the community tended towards its original composition. Phylogenetic turnover patterns indicated that the community experienced stronger deterministic selection during recovery. Thus, soil bacterial communities, despite their extreme diversity and functional redundancy, respond to disturbances like many macro-ecological systems and exhibit path-dependent, autogenic dynamics during secondary succession. These results highlight the role of autogenic factors and successional dynamics in microbial recovery.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85017107805&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/srep45691

DO - 10.1038/srep45691

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28383027

AN - SCOPUS:85017107805

VL - 7

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

M1 - 45691

ER -