Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Response of soil microbial communities and nitrogen cycling processes to changes in vegetation inputs

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  • Changes in the type and amount of plant inputs can occur gradually, as with succession, or rapidly, as with harvesting or wildfire. With global change it is anticipated that both gradual and immediate scenarios will occur at increasing frequency. Changes in vegetation inputs alter the quality and quantity of soil organic matter inputs, thus influencing the composition of soil microbial communities and the nutrient cycles they mediate. Understanding the relationship of soil organic matter inputs on soil microbial communities and nutrient cycles will be beneficial in predicting responses to changes in vegetation inputs. During the last 100-150 years, the vegetation of the Rio Grande Plains of the United States has been shifting from grasslands/savannas to woodlands as the result of encroachment of N₂-fixing trees and their associated plant communities. The structure and diversity of soil microbial communities were examined under woody species and remnant grasslands. In addition, relationships between soil microbial communities and soil physical and chemical characteristics were explored. Soil microbial communities differed in soils under N₂-fixing trees and associated vegetation compared to remnant grasslands. Differences in both fungal and bacterial communities were anticipated with vegetation shifts; however, only fungal communities correlated with vegetation, whereas bacterial communities were influenced by spatial heterogeneity. Soil microbial N cycling was investigated in long-term (>10 years) organic matter manipulations in an old-growth forest, dominated by large Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco (Douglas-fir). The objectives of this research were to: 1) determine if long-term organic matter manipulations in old-growth forests altered microbial N cycling, 2) determine the contribution of litter to N cycling, and 3) determine if litter quality (low C/N red alder and high C/N Douglas-fir) affected the contribution of litter-derived N to N transformations. Long-term organic matter manipulations were found to affect microbial C and N cycling, but to a lesser degree than anticipated. After 10 years of organic matter exclusions and additions, microbial communities in all treatments remained N limited, although N limitation was less severe in organic matter exclusion treatments. Adding leached litter to control and organic matter exclusion soils initially altered N processes but differences dissipated during a 151-day incubation. Litter quality had little impact on the N cycling and litter made modest contributions to N mineralization and nitrification. The exclusion of organic matter altered the functionality of the microbial community to access litter-derived N. Both the gradual establishment of woody clusters on grassland and abrupt manipulations of old-growth vegetation inputs elicited responses in microbial communities and N cycling. Although some responses were subtle, they nonetheless support the responsiveness and importance of microbial communities to soil processes. Understanding feedbacks among plant inputs, microbial communities and nutrient cycles will aid in predicting microbial, ecosystem, and global responses to vegetation changes.
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