TY - JOUR
T1 - Global drivers of methane oxidation and denitrifying gene distribution in drylands
AU - Lafuente, Angela
AU - Bowker, Matthew A.
AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
AU - Durán, Jorge
AU - Singh, Brajesh K.
AU - Maestre, Fernando T.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank Victoria Ochoa and Beatriz Gozalo for their help with soil analyses, Marcus Klein for his help in laboratory analyses, and Miguel García and Concha Cano-Diaz for their help with the illustrations displayed in some figures. A.L. is supported by an Formación de Personal Investigador fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2014-067831). M.D.-B. acknowledges support from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-MSCA-IF-2016 under Research Executive Agency grant agreement no. 702057. J.D. acknowledges support from the Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia (IF/00950/2014), the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and COMPETE 2020 (UID/BIA/04004/2013). This research was supported by the European Research Council [ERC Grant Agreements 242658 (BIOCOM) and 647038 (BIODESERT)] and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIOMOD project, ref. CGL2013-44661-R). Work on soil microbial diversity in B.K.S.'s laboratory is funded by the Australian Research Council.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Aim: Microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes are major drivers of methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from soils. However, most studies on these organisms have been conducted in mesic ecosystems; therefore, little is known about the factors driving their distribution in drylands, the largest biome on Earth. We conducted a global survey to evaluate the role of climate- and soil-related variables as predictors of the richness, abundance and community structure of bacteria carrying pmoA and nosZ genes. Location: Eighty dryland ecosystems distributed worldwide. Time period: From February 2006 to December 2011. Major taxa studied: Methanotrophic (carrying the pmoA gene) and denitrifiying (carrying the nosZ gene) bacteria. Methods: We used data from a field survey and structural equation modelling to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of climatic (aridity, rainfall seasonality and mean annual temperature) and soil (organic carbon, pH and texture) variables on the total abundance, richness and community structure of microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes. Results: Taxa related to Methylococcus capsulatus or Methylocapsa sp., often associated with mesic environments, were common in global drylands. The abundance and richness of methanotrophs were not associated with climate or soil properties. However, mean annual temperature, rainfall seasonality, organic C, pH and sand content were highly correlated with their community structure. Aridity and soil variables, such as sand content and pH, were correlated with the abundance, community structure and richness of the nosZ bacterial community. Main conclusions: Our study provides new insights into the drivers of the abundance, richness and community structure of soil microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes in drylands worldwide. We highlight how ongoing climate change will alter the structure of soil microorganisms, which might affect the net CH4 exchange and will probably reduce the capacity of dryland soils to carry out the final step of denitrification, favouring net N2O emissions.
AB - Aim: Microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes are major drivers of methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from soils. However, most studies on these organisms have been conducted in mesic ecosystems; therefore, little is known about the factors driving their distribution in drylands, the largest biome on Earth. We conducted a global survey to evaluate the role of climate- and soil-related variables as predictors of the richness, abundance and community structure of bacteria carrying pmoA and nosZ genes. Location: Eighty dryland ecosystems distributed worldwide. Time period: From February 2006 to December 2011. Major taxa studied: Methanotrophic (carrying the pmoA gene) and denitrifiying (carrying the nosZ gene) bacteria. Methods: We used data from a field survey and structural equation modelling to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of climatic (aridity, rainfall seasonality and mean annual temperature) and soil (organic carbon, pH and texture) variables on the total abundance, richness and community structure of microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes. Results: Taxa related to Methylococcus capsulatus or Methylocapsa sp., often associated with mesic environments, were common in global drylands. The abundance and richness of methanotrophs were not associated with climate or soil properties. However, mean annual temperature, rainfall seasonality, organic C, pH and sand content were highly correlated with their community structure. Aridity and soil variables, such as sand content and pH, were correlated with the abundance, community structure and richness of the nosZ bacterial community. Main conclusions: Our study provides new insights into the drivers of the abundance, richness and community structure of soil microorganisms carrying pmoA and nosZ genes in drylands worldwide. We highlight how ongoing climate change will alter the structure of soil microorganisms, which might affect the net CH4 exchange and will probably reduce the capacity of dryland soils to carry out the final step of denitrification, favouring net N2O emissions.
KW - abundance
KW - community structure
KW - denitrifiers
KW - drylands
KW - methanotrophs
KW - richness
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U2 - 10.1111/geb.12928
DO - 10.1111/geb.12928
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065791117
SN - 1466-822X
VL - 28
SP - 1230
EP - 1243
JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography
JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography
IS - 9
ER -