Variation in Soil Microbial Communities Along an Elevational Gradient in Alpine Meadows of the Qilian Mountains, China.

Yulong Duan,Yongqing Luo,Xuyang Wang,Wanfu Wang,Jun Ma,Yun Ding,Jianhua Zhao,Yuqiang Li,Lilong Wang,Yulin Li,Jie Lian,Fasi Wu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.684386

Abstract

Bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryota diversity in mountainous areas varies along elevational gradients, but details remain unclear. Here, we use a next-generation sequencing method based on 16S/18S rRNA to reveal the soil microbial diversity and community compositions of alpine meadow ecosystems along an elevation span of nearly 2,000 m (1,936–3,896 m) in China’s Qilian Mountains. Both bacterial and eukaryota diversity increased linearly with increasing elevation, whereas archaeal diversity increased, but not significantly. The diversity patterns of several phyla in the bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryota communities were consistent with the overall elevational trend, but some phyla did not follow this pattern. The soil microbial community compositions were shaped by the coupled effects of regional climate and local soil properties. Intradomain links were more important than interdomain links in the microbial network of the alpine meadows, and these links were mostly positive. The bacteria formed more connections than either archaea or eukaryota, but archaea may be more important than bacteria in building the soil microbial co-occurrence network in this region. Our results provide new visions on the formation and maintenance of soil microbial diversity along an elevational gradient and have implications for microbial responses to climate change in alpine ecosystems.

Highlights

Studies of elevation clines in the soil biodiversity and compositions of ecological communities have provided important insights on the development of the fundamental theory of species diversity (Lomolino, 2001)
We found different diversity patterns in bacterial, archaeal, and eukaryotic communities along the elevational gradient
Similar Elevational Diversity Patterns Were Observed for Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryota

Summary

Introduction

Studies of elevation clines in the soil biodiversity and compositions of ecological communities have provided important insights on the development of the fundamental theory of species diversity (Lomolino, 2001). These effects can either directly reflect the physiological responses of temperature and its related abiotic factors with elevation or indirectly reflect the effects of temperature on resources or symbiotic organisms (Sundqvist et al, 2013). These insights have enhanced research on the distribution patterns of animals, plants, and insects across continental ecosystems, which helped to explain general patterns along elevational gradients (Kessler et al, 2011; Descombes et al, 2017; Dvorsky et al, 2017). Studies have shown that the abundance and diversity of soil microbial communities varied along elevational gradients, but that the microbes do not follow the same patterns as animals or plants (Fierer et al, 2011). Halla in South Korea all showed that soil bacterial diversity did not change with elevation (Fierer et al, 2011; Shen et al, 2013; Singh et al, 2014)

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