Abstract

Corpse decomposition is a key process of the biogeochemical cycle in natural ecosystems, in which denitrification takes part. Denitrification is the process of nitrogen transformation which converts nitrate into nitrogenous gas. Nevertheless, the response and succession patterns of the denitrification communities during cadaver decomposition are largely unknown. To address this gap, we investigated the succession of the narG-encoding denitrifying communities during the decomposition process of wild animals (plateau pika) corpses using high-throughput Miseq sequencing. Our results showed that soil TP significantly accumulated in response to long-term cadaveric decomposition and could not be restored to control levels. But the abundance of many genera (e.g., Thiohalorhabdus, Acidovorax, Caballeronia) exhibited quadratic curvilinear recovery patterns during the cadaver decomposition. The alpha diversity also showed strong resilience and resistance to the cadaver decomposition. However, corpse decay led to the structural separation of the denitrifying communities with succession and increased the temporal turnover rate of the narG-type denitrifiers. The migration of the narG denitrification community was gradually limited during the cadaver decomposition. Moreover, the networks of the cadaver groups were more connected and complex than those of the control groups. Incubation time, cadaver decomposition, total carbon, and ammonium nitrogen were the most important factors driving the narG denitrification communities. These results suggest that denitrifying communities have a strong response to the decomposition of wild animal carcasses in soil habitats. This experiment provides a new view of the effect of wild animal corpse decomposition on the succession of denitrifying communities.

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