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Title: Archaeal rhizosphere communities differ between the native and invasive lines of the wetland plant phragmites australis (common reed) in a Chesapeake Bay subestuary

Author
item YARWOOD, STEPHANIE - University Of Maryland
item BALDWIN, ANDREW - University Of Maryland
item GONZALEZ-MATEU, M - University Of Maryland
item Buyer, Jeffrey

Submitted to: Biological Invasions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2016
Publication Date: 4/21/2016
Citation: Yarwood, S., Baldwin, A., Gonzalez-Mateu, M., Buyer, J.S. 2016. Archaeal rhizosphere communities differ between the native and invasive lines of the wetland plant phragmites australis (common reed) in a Chesapeake Bay subestuary. Biological Invasions. doi: 10.1007/510530-016-1144-7.

Interpretive Summary: Invasive plants and animals represent a major threat to certain ecosystems, causing major changes to plant and animal populations. However, the effects of invasive plants and animals on microbial communities, which provide critical ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and pathogen suppression, have rarely been documented. In this study we examined the effect of an invasive wetlands plant, Phragmites australis, on wetland soil microbial communities in a Chesapeake Bay subestuary. When compared to a native strain of the same species, soil under the invasive strain had higher levels of soil organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen, and also had higher levels of one large group of microbes, the archaea. The community structure of the archaea was also different under the invasive strain. These results indicate that invasive Phragmites alters the wetland soil microbial community, which may result in changes in biogeochemical cycling. Further studies will be required to understand the long-term implications for the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. This information is important to scientists studying the impact of invasive species on ecosystems.

Technical Abstract: Phragmites australis, a common wetland plant species worldwide, is best known in North America as persistent invasive species. Only in recent decades was a native line, Phragmites australis subsp. americanus, confirmed in North American wetlands. This study investigated whether the two lines support unique rhizosphere communities. Paired stands of the native and invasive lines were sampled at four locations across a Chesapeake Bay subestuary to assess differences in soil chemical parameters and the microbial community. Microbial characterization included quantitative PCR, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles and phospholipid fatty acid profiles. Bacterial biomass and composition did not differ between the two lines, but significant differences were observed in archaeal community composition and phospholipid fatty acid profiles. These findings support other studies that have noted the ability of native and invasive Phragmites to differentially affect soil biogeochemistry, and suggest that archaea in the rhizosphere of wetland plants may be more sensitive to plant variation than bacteria.