Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Miles City, Montana » Livestock and Range Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #384973
Research Project: Development of Management Strategies for Livestock Grazing, Disturbance and Climate Variation for the Northern Plains

Location: Livestock and Range Research Laboratory

Title: Consistent predictors of microbial community composition across spatial scales in grasslands reveal low context-dependency

Author
item RADUJKOVIC, DAJANA - UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
item VICCA, SARA - UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
item VAN ROOYEN, GRETEL - UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
item WILFAHRT, PETER - UNIVERSITY OF BAYREUTH
item BROWN, LESLIE - UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
item JENTSCH, ANKE - UNIVERSITY OF BAYREUTH
item Reinhart, Kurt
item BROWN, CHARLOTTE - UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
item DE GRUYTER, JOHAN - UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
item JURASINSKI, GERALD - UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK
item ASKARIZADEH, DIANA - UNIVERSITY OF TEHRAN
item BARTHA, SANDOR - CENTRE FOR ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY AND BOTANY
item BECK, RYAN - AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD CANADA
item BLENKINSOPP, THEODORE - UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
item CAHILL, JAMES - UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
item CAMPETELLA, GIANDIEGO - UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI CAMERINO
item CANULLO, ROBERTO - UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI CAMERINO
item CHELLI, STEFANO - UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI CAMERINO
item ENRICO, LUCAS - UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CORDOBA
item FRASER, LAUCHLAN - THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY
item HAO, XIYING - AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD CANADA
item HENRY, HUGH A. - UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO
item HOHN, MARIA - HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCE
item HASAN JOURI, MOHAMMAD - ISLAMIC AZAD UNIVERSITY
item KOCH, MARIAN - UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK
item LAWRENCE LODGE, RACHAEL - UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO
item YONGHONG LI, FRANK - INNER MONGOLIA UNIVERSITY
item MILLIGAN, PATRICK - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item MINGGAGUD, HUGJILTU - INNER MONGOLIA UNIVERSITY
item PALMER, TODD - UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
item SCHRODER, BIRGIT - UNIVERSITY OF ROSTOCK
item SZABO, GABOR - HUNGARIAN UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCE
item ZHANG, TONGRUI - INNER MONGOLIA UNIVERSITY
item ZIMMERMANN, ZITA - CENTRE FOR ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY AND BOTANY
item VERBRUGGEN, ERIK - UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP

Submitted to: Global Ecology and Biogeography
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2023
Publication Date: 10/24/2023
Citation: Radujkovic, D., Vicca, S., Van Rooyen, G., Wilfahrt, P., Brown, L., Jentsch, A., Reinhart, K.O., Brown, C., De Gruyter, J., Jurasinski, G., Askarizadeh, D., Bartha, S., Beck, R., Blenkinsopp, T., Cahill, J., Campetella, G., Canullo, R., Chelli, S., Enrico, L., Fraser, L., Hao, X., Henry, H.L., Hohn, M., Hasan Jouri, M., Koch, M., Lawrence Lodge, R., Yonghong Li, F., Milligan, P., Minggagud, H., Palmer, T., Schroder, B., Szabo, G., Zhang, T., Zimmermann, Z., Verbruggen, E. 2023. Consistent predictors of microbial community composition across spatial scales in grasslands reveal low context-dependency. Global Ecology and Biogeography. 32(24):6924-6938. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17178.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17178

Interpretive Summary: Problem: There are few generalizations that can be reliably used to describe variation in soil microbial communities across grassland sites. Result: We found that microbial community composition can be predicted by similar factors at both local and global spatial scales; bacteria were predominantly associated with soil properties (base saturation and pH) and fungi with plant community composition. Moreover, there was a microbial community signal that clearly distinguished grasslands with high versus low productivity that was shared across worldwide-distributed sites.

Technical Abstract: Potential drivers of soil microbial community assembly have been studied extensively, but it is currently unclear whether a consistent set of predictors can be identified across different soils, or whether context-dependency prevails. Here, we used a network of 18 globally distributed grassland sites (11 sampled across regional plant productivity gradients) to examine i) if the same abiotic or biotic factors can predict both global and regional-scale patterns in bacterial and fungal community composition, and ii) if microbial community composition differs consistently with regional plant productivity (low vs high) across different sites. We found that microbial community composition can be predicted by similar factors at both spatial scales; bacteria were predominantly associated with soil properties (base saturation and pH) and fungi with plant community composition. Moreover, there was a microbial community signal that clearly distinguished high and low productivity soils that was shared across worldwide distributed grasslands. Our results indicate two main generalizations about the organization of soil microbial communities: i) a limited set of predictors explains variation across scales and ii) microbial assemblages vary predictably depending on grassland productivity.