Metabarcoding to investigate changes in soil microbial communities within forensic burial contexts

Understory vegetation leads to changes in soil acidity and in microbial communities 27 years after reforestation.

Experiments with potted plants and removed understories have indicated that understory vegetation often affects the chemical and microbial properties of soil. In this study, we examined the mechanism and extent of the influence of understory vegetation on the chemical and microbial properties of soil in plantation forests. The relationships between the vegetational structure (diversity for diff...

Microbial communities acclimate to recurring changes in soil redox potential status.

Rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions can significantly stress organisms, particularly when fluctuations cross thresholds of normal physiological tolerance. Redox potential fluctuations are common in humid tropical soils, and microbial community acclimation or avoidance strategies for survival will in turn shape microbial community diversity and biogeochemistry. To assess the extent to w...

Vertical organization of freshwater sediment microbial communities: implications for microbial activities and burial processes

Microbial activity in lake sediments is essential for cycling of organic matter that continuously sinks from the water column. Its ongoing accumulation and subsequent burial at the sediment surface has unknown implications for the structure and function of microbial communities. We performed a full biogeochemical and microbial community analysis of 4 replicate sediment cores in a clear lake. Th...

Ecological Resilience of Soil Microbial Communities

Flooding effects on soil microbial communities

Flooding affects both aboveand below-ground ecosystem processes. While the below-ground changes may be less obvious, they are as important as the above-ground changes. Soil microorganisms are sensitive to disturbance, and shifts in soil microbial community structure are expected when anaerobic conditions develop from flooding. The primary objective of these studies was to determine the effect o...