Abstract

The water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) is a transitional zone between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Plant communities that are constructed artificially in the WLFZ can absorb and retain nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). However, the microbial community composition and function associated with this process have not been elucidated. In this study, four artificially constructed plant communities, including those of herbs (Cynodon dactylon and Chrysopogon zizanioides), trees (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), and shrubs (Salix matsudana) from the newly formed WLFZ of the Danjiangkou Reservoir were evaluated. The bacterial community compositions were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing using a MiSeq platform, and the functions of these communities were assessed via Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) analysis. The results showed that the bacterial communities primarily comprised 362 genera from 24 phyla, such as Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes, showing the richness of the community composition. Planting altered the bacterial community composition, with varying effects observed among the different plant types. The bacterial community functional analysis revealed that these bacteria were primarily associated with six biological metabolic pathway categories (e.g., metabolism, genetic information processing, and environmental information processing) with 34 subfunctions, showing the richness of community functions. The planting of M. glyptostroboides, S. matsudana, and C. dactylon improved the metabolic capabilities of bacterial communities. N- and P-cycling gene analysis showed that planting altered the N- and P-cycling metabolic capacities of soil bacteria. The overall N- and P-metabolic capacity was highly similar between C. dactylon and C. zizanioides samples and between S. matsudana and M. glyptostroboides samples. The results of this study provide a preliminary analysis of soil bacterial community structure and function in the WLFZ of the Danjiangkou Reservoir and provides a reference for vegetation construction in this zone.

Highlights

  • The water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) is an alternating submerged and exposed zone formed in the areas surrounding rivers, reservoirs, and lakes due to seasonal or periodic water-level fluctuations.The WLFZ plays an important role in connecting water and land, while acting as the final barrier for water quality safety in reservoirs [1,2]

  • The results of this study provide a preliminary analysis of soil bacterial community structure and function in the WLFZ of the Danjiangkou Reservoir and provides a reference for vegetation construction in this zone

  • Significant changes occurred in the proportions of 25 genera (e.g., Burkholderia, Paraburkholderia, Dokdonella, Achromobacter, Aeromicrobium, and Niabella) for three or more planted soils compared with the bare soil control. These results indicate that the soil bacterial communities and soil properties were affected by artificially constructed vegetation in the newly formed WLFZ of the Danjiangkou Reservoir, with varying effects observed among soils associated with the different plant types

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Summary

Introduction

The water-level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) is an alternating submerged and exposed zone formed in the areas surrounding rivers, reservoirs, and lakes due to seasonal or periodic water-level fluctuations. The WLFZ plays an important role in connecting water and land, while acting as the final barrier for water quality safety in reservoirs [1,2]. Reservoir had been elevated from 157 to 170 m. The newly inundated farmland area comprises nearly. Long-term monitoring indicates that due to pollution from agricultural nonpoint sources and rural domestic sewage, the Danjiangkou Reservoir receives large nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loads. The potential risk of releasing nutrients from the newly inundated area of the reservoir cannot be ignored [5,6,7,8]

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