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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Oxford, Mississippi » National Sedimentation Laboratory » Water Quality and Ecology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #427581
Research Project: Enhancing Long-Term Agroecosystem Sustainability of Water and Soil Resources Through Science and Technology

Location: Water Quality and Ecology Research

Title: Barking up the Right Tree: Ecological Insights into the Microbiome of Bald Cypress Tree Bark

Author
item Barrett, Damien
item Heintzman, Lucas
item DAVIDSON, GREGG - University Of Mississippi
item JACKSON, COLIN - University Of Mississippi
item Moore, Matthew

Submitted to: BMC Environmental Microbiome
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/27/2026
Publication Date: 2/5/2026
Citation: Barrett, D.E., Heintzman, L.J., Davidson, G.R., Jackson, C.R., Moore, M.T. 2026. Barking up the Right Tree: Ecological Insights into the Microbiome of Bald Cypress Tree Bark. BMC Environmental Microbiome. 21:37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-026-00862-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40793-026-00862-2

Interpretive Summary: In wetland areas impacted by agriculture, trees and the biological communities living on them, play an important ecological role. We examined how changing water levels (based on irrigation and drainage of surrounding areas)affected the microbial community on the bark of bald cypress trees. Results showed that the quality of water was closely related to the diversity of microbes seen on wet bark, which also had more numbers of microbes than dry bark. Microbes associated with the wet bark are providing valuable ecological services that help to degrade pollutants and cycle excess nutrients, improving the overall wetland system.

Technical Abstract: Trees and their associated microbes provide numerous ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and phytoremediation. Tree bark represents a large and seasonably stable habitat for microbial communities. However, the tree bark microbiome remains largely understudied, particularly for wetland tree species. In the Lower Mississippi River Basin, bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) are the predominant tree species in many wetlands, including lakes and streams connected to large agroecosystems dominated by row-crop agriculture. These water bodies are often managed for irrigation and drainage needs and are subject to agrochemical runoff from adjacent fields. Thus, we sought to understand how hydrology affects the bald cypress bark microbiome.