Microorganism community structure: A characterisation of agrosystems from Madeira Archipelago

Abstract

AbstractMicrobial diversity profoundly influences soil ecosystem functions, making it vital to monitor community dynamics to comprehend its structure. Our study focused on six agrosystems in Madeira Archipelago, analysing bacteria, archaea, fungi and AMF through classical microbiology and molecular techniques. Despite distinct edaphoclimatic conditions and management practices, bacterial structures exhibited similarities, with Alphaproteobacteria at 18%–20%, Bacilli at 11%–18% and Clostridia at 9%–14%. The predominance of copiothrophic groups suggested that soil nutrient content was the driver of these communities. Regarding archaea, the communities changed among sites, and it was evident that agrosystems provided niches for methanogens. The Crenarchaeota varied between 15% and 29%, followed by two classes of Euryarchaeota, Methanomicrobia (17%–25%) and Methanococci (4%–32%). Fungal communities showed consistent composition at the class level but had differing diversity indices due to management practices and soil texture. Sordaryomycetes (21%–28%) and Agaricomycetes (15%–23%) were predominant. Conversely, AMF communities appeared to be also influenced by the agrosystem, with Glomus representing over 50% of the community in all agrosystems. These insights into microbial groups' susceptibilities to environmental conditions are crucial for maintaining healthy soil and predicting climate change effects on agrosystems' productivity, resilience and sustainability. Additionally, our findings enable the development of more robust prediction models for agricultural practices.