Litter decomposition, microbial community dynamics and their relationships under seasonal snow cover

Abstract

Under global climate change, changes in seasonal snow cover patterns significantly affect surface material cycling and microbial community composition. High-throughput sequencing and litter decomposition experiments were employed to study the relationships between soil microbial community characteristics and litter decomposition levels for different snow cover periods and thicknesses. The mass loss of litter was approximately 25–28%, the decomposition coefficient (k) was between 0.277 and 0.322, and k was significantly (p < 0.05) higher under thick snow cover than under no snow cover. Decomposition period significantly affected the observed species number and Shannon and phylogenetic diversity (PD) indices (p < 0.01) of the prokaryote and fungus communities. Snow cover thickness significantly affected the observed species number and Shannon and PD indices of prokaryotes. Prokaryote alpha diversity was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the deep-freeze period and middle of the growing season than in the freeze-thaw period, and diversity was significantly (p < 0.05) higher under thick snow cover than under no snow cover during the freeze-thaw period. Fungal diversity was significantly (p < 0.05) greater in the middle of the growing season than in the freeze-thaw period and late growing season. The effect of prokaryote diversity on litter properties was greater than that of fungal diversity. Our findings reveal a significant impact of seasonal snowfall on soil microbial communities and variation in the relationships between various properties with changing snow cover thickness. This study provides important data for understanding the impact of winter environmental changes on microbial diversity, material cycling and other ecological processes under global climate change.