Soil microbial community size and composition changes along a tanglehead (Heteropogon contortus) gradient in a semiarid region

Abstract

Invasive plants are a serious concern throughout many rangelands in North America because of their detrimental effects on vegetation community composition, diversity and wildlife habitat. Growing evidence shows that invasive plants affect ecosystem processes such as energy and nutrient cycling and soil microbial associations. Tanglehead (Heteropogon contortus [L.] P. Beauv. ex Roem and Schult.) is a C4, perennial caespitose grass that is rapidly increasing throughout the Coastal Sand Plain in southern Texas. In a field study, we examined the response of soil microbial community size and structure over a 3-year period (2013–2015) along a tanglehead invasion gradient represented by the natives-without-tanglehead plant communities (<15% tanglehead), natives-with-tanglehead mixtures (15–70% tanglehead), and tanglehead-dominated (>70% tanglehead) plant communities. Soil microbial size [microbial biomass carbon (MBC), nitrogen (MBN), and total fatty acid methyl esters (FAME)] differed between natives-without-tanglehead and tanglehead-dominated sites in 2013 and 2015 (dry years). MBC averaged ~200 mg kg−1 soil in natives-without-tanglehead sites but <70 mg kg−1 soil in invaded sites, and total FAME averaged 36 and 41 nmol g−1 soil in native-without-tanglehead and invaded sites, respectively, in 2013 and 44 and 55 nmol g−1 in 2015. Invaded sites had higher saprophytic fungi:bacteria ratios than sites with <15% tanglehead (0.64 vs. 0.53) over all 3 years. We conducted a separate inoculation experiment where tanglehead was planted in native soils that lacked tanglehead to investigate effects of tanglehead inoculation on soil microbial community dynamics; introduction of tanglehead to native soils did not change microbial community structure, size, or relative abundance of key microbial FAME indicators over the course of 18 months. Field study results revealed different soil microbial communities associated with tanglehead, but at what point these communities change during invasion is not clear, and how these effects are related to overall habitat degradation associated with this invasive plant requires further study.