Photoautotrophic soil cyanobacteria play essential ecological roles and are known to exhibit large changes in their diversity and abundance throughout early succession. However, much less is known about how and why soil cyanobacterial communities change as soil develops over centuries and millennia, and the effects that vegetation have on such communities.
We combined an extensive field survey, including 16 global soil chronosequences across contrasting ecosystems (from deserts to tropical forests), with molecular analyses to investigate how the diversity and abundance of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic soil cyanobacteria are affected by vegetation change during soil development, over time periods from hundreds to thousands of years.
We show that, in most chronosequences, the abundance, species richness and community composition of soil cyanobacteria are relatively stable as soil develops (from centuries to millennia). Regardless of soil age, forest chronosequences were consistently dominated by nonphotosynthetic cyanobacteria (Vampirovibrionia), while grasslands and shrublands were dominated by photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Chronosequences undergoing drastic vegetation shifts (e.g. transitions from grasslands to forests) experienced significant changes in the composition of soil cyanobacterial communities.
Our results advance our understanding of the ecology of cyanobacterial classes, and of the understudied nonphotosynthetic cyanobacteria in particular, and highlight the key role of vegetation as a major driver of their temporal dynamics as soil develops.
Land-use is a major driver of changes in biodiversity worldwide, but studies have overwhelmingly focused on above-ground taxa: the effects on soil biodiversity are less well known, despite the importance of soil organisms in ecosystem functioning. We modelled data from a global biodiversity database to compare how the abundance of soil-dwelling and above-ground organisms responded to land use and soil properties. ResultsWe found that land use affects overall abundance differently in soil and above-ground assemblages. The abundance of soil organisms was markedly lower in cropland and plantation habitats than in primary vegetation and pasture. Soil properties influenced the abundance of soil biota in ways that differed among land uses, suggesting they shape both abundance and its response to land use.
ConclusionsOur results caution against assuming models or indicators derived from above-ground data can apply to soil assemblages and highlight the potential value of incorporating soil properties into biodiversity models.
", "keywords": ["Land-use intensity", "0106 biological sciences", "570", "Evolution", "[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "Organism abundance", "soil biodiversity", "01 natural sciences", "soil biota", "mixed-effects models", "Soil", "land\u2011use intensity", "Land-use", " Land-use intensity", " Mixed-effects models", " Organism abundance", " Soil biodiversity", " Soil biota", "land-use", "QH359-425", "Soil biota", "land-use intensity", "Biology", "Land-use", "QH540-549.5", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "2. Zero hunger", "Ecology", "Research", "Biology and Life Sciences", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "organism abundance", "Soil biodiversity", "Biota", "ddc:", "[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]", "Chemistry", "land\u2011use", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Human medicine", "Mixed-effects models", "mixed\u2011effects models"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.iris.unict.it/bitstream/20.500.11769/647835/1/12862_2022_Article_2089.pdf"}, {"href": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12862-022-02089-4.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10044/1/101414"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/BMC%20Ecology%20and%20Evolution", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10044/1/101414", "name": "item", "description": "10044/1/101414", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10044/1/101414"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2022-11-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10045/121448", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-08-24T16:21:43Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-01-28", "title": "Effects of vegetation on soil cyanobacterial communities through time and space", "description": "Summary
Photoautotrophic soil cyanobacteria play essential ecological roles and are known to exhibit large changes in their diversity and abundance throughout early succession. However, much less is known about how and why soil cyanobacterial communities change as soil develops over centuries and millennia, and the effects that vegetation have on such communities.
We combined an extensive field survey, including 16 global soil chronosequences across contrasting ecosystems (from deserts to tropical forests), with molecular analyses to investigate how the diversity and abundance of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic soil cyanobacteria are affected by vegetation change during soil development, over time periods from hundreds to thousands of years.
We show that, in most chronosequences, the abundance, species richness and community composition of soil cyanobacteria are relatively stable as soil develops (from centuries to millennia). Regardless of soil age, forest chronosequences were consistently dominated by nonphotosynthetic cyanobacteria (Vampirovibrionia), while grasslands and shrublands were dominated by photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Chronosequences undergoing drastic vegetation shifts (e.g. transitions from grasslands to forests) experienced significant changes in the composition of soil cyanobacterial communities.
Our results advance our understanding of the ecology of cyanobacterial classes, and of the understudied nonphotosynthetic cyanobacteria in particular, and highlight the key role of vegetation as a major driver of their temporal dynamics as soil develops.
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\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and soil\uffe2\uff80\uff90related variables as predictors of the richness, abundance and community structure of bacteria carrying pmoA and nosZ genes.LocationEighty dryland ecosystems distributed worldwide.
Time periodFrom February 2006 to December 2011.
Major taxa studiedMethanotrophic (carrying the pmoA gene) and denitrifiying (carrying the nosZ gene) bacteria.
MethodsWe 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.
ResultsTaxa 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 conclusionsOur 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.Unprecedented nitrogen (N) inputs into terrestrial ecosystems have profoundly altered soil N cycling. Ammonia oxidizers and denitrifiers are the main producers of nitrous oxide (N2O), but it remains unclear how ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances will respond to N loading and whether their responses can predict N\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced changes in soil N2O emission. By synthesizing 101 field studies worldwide, we showed that N loading significantly increased ammonia oxidizer abundance by 107% and denitrifier abundance by 45%. The increases in both ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances were primarily explained by N loading form, and more specifically, organic N loading had stronger effects on their abundances than mineral N loading. Nitrogen loading increased soil N2O emission by 261%, whereas there was no clear relationship between changes in soil N2O emission and shifts in ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances. Our field\uffe2\uff80\uff90based results challenge the laboratory\uffe2\uff80\uff90based hypothesis that increased ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier abundances by N loading would directly cause higher soil N2O emission. Instead, key abiotic factors (mean annual precipitation, soil pH, soil C:N ratio, and ecosystem type) explained N\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced changes in soil N2O emission. Altogether, these findings highlight the need for considering the roles of key abiotic factors in regulating soil N transformations under N loading to better understand the microbially mediated soil N2O emission.30 cm DBH) to avoid influences from species other than larch and oak. Data collection: Dwarf bamboo: Average height measured from five random points per plot. Understory vascular plants: All species, including trees and shrubs <1.3 m tall, recorded. Species cover: Measured using a modified Braun-Blanquet cover class system with seven cover categories. Braun -Blanquet scaleCover range (%)Used in calculations (%) r <0.1 + 0.1 \u2013 1 1 1 \u2013 5 2 5 \u2013 25 3 25 \u2013 50 4 50 \u2013 75 5 75 \u2013 100 *For dwarf bamboo, which was very abundant, 100% cover was used for category 5. This did not affect the calculations. Taxonomic groupings: Grouped species: Dwarf bamboos: Sasa spp. (S. kurilensis, S. nipponica, S. palmata, Sasamorpha borealis). Graminoids: Carex, Juncus, Luzula, Poaceae. Non-flowering specimens: Rosa, Rubus, Viola (excluding Viola tokubuchiana var. tokubuchiana which was registered separately). Maple seedlings: Acer spp. (excluding A. rufinerve which was registered separately). Birch seedlings: Betula (B. platyphylla var. japonica, B. ermanii). Euonymus species: E. alatus, E. macropterus, E. sieboldianus (excluding vine E. fortunei). 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