Copiotrophic Bacterial Traits Increase With Burn Severity One Year After a Wildfire

Wildfire and burn severity influence soil microbial communities during post-fire recovery. If differences in affect carbon (C) pool dynamics, altered could the transition of forests from C sources to sinks ecosystem For example, fire may change abundance copiotrophic oligotrophic bacteria, influencing kinetic rates pools due C-acquisition strategies nutrient requirements. We assessed bacterial kinetics 1 year after a wildfire mixed-conifer forest northern California, United States. determined whether were related versus life history strategies. Specifically, we community oligotrophy copiotrophy based on phyla relative abundances predicted 16S gene copy numbers. then these life-histories correlated with rates. further degradation metabolic pathways using PICRUSt2 kinetics. found that bacteria exhibited greater burned areas than unburned areas, evidenced by increases rRNA number taxonomic classifications. Furthermore, associated fast-cycling compounds increased severity, including carbohydrate, alcohol, amine pathways, suggesting In contrast, slow-cycling aromatic did not change, indicating increase. The rate active was positively pathway alcohol degradation, negatively like compound degradation. links between phylum-level life-strategy classifications ambiguous. Overall, our results suggest life-strategies are have short- long-term impacts persistence short-term, increase efflux via rapid cycling labile pools. However, over longer-term lower prevalence allow pyrogenic accumulate, increasing stable stocks.