Affiliation:
1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Abstract
The nitrogen (N) enrichment induced by atmospheric N deposition affects both soil physicochemical properties and bacterial communities. However, how N enrichment affects soil aggregate-associated bacterial communities remains largely unclear. In this study, we conducted a two-year N addition experiment (four N levels: 0, 5, 10, and 20 g N m−2 year−1, corresponding to normal N, low N, medium N, and high N, respectively) in a Quercus liaotungensis Koidz–dominated forest. The distribution, nutrient content, and bacterial community composition of the soil aggregates were measured under various N enrichment conditions. N enrichment changed the aggregate distribution, increased the content of nutrients in aggregates, and altered the aggregate-associated bacterial community composition. N enrichment reduced the complexity of the bacterial co-occurrence network and degraded the interactions between bacteria compared with those observed under the normal N level. Aggregate-associated bacterial community was determined to be primarily affected by N enrichment level but not by aggregate size. The litter properties are the key factors affecting the composition of bacteria in aggregates. These findings improve our understanding of aggregate-associated bacterial responses to N enrichment and the related influencing factors.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Funding of Top Young Talents of Ten Thousand talents Plan in China
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities