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Bechtold EK, Wanek W, Nuesslein B, DaCosta M, Nüsslein K. Successional changes in bacterial phyllosphere communities are plant-host species dependent. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024; 90:e0175023. [PMID: 38349147 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01750-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Phyllosphere microbial communities are increasingly experiencing intense pulse disturbance events such as drought. It is currently unknown how phyllosphere communities respond to such disturbances and if they are able to recover. We explored the stability of phyllosphere communities over time, in response to drought stress, and under recovery from drought on temperate forage grasses. Compositional or functional changes were observed during the disturbance period and whether communities returned to non-stressed levels following recovery. Here, we found that phyllosphere community composition shifts as a result of simulated drought but does not fully recover after irrigation is resumed and that the degree of community response to drought is host species dependent. However, while community composition had changed, we found a high level of functional stability (resistance) over time and in the water deficit treatment. Ecological modeling enabled us to understand community assembly processes over a growing season and to determine if they were disrupted during a disturbance event. Phyllosphere community succession was characterized by a strong level of ecological drift, but drought disturbance resulted in variable selection, or, in other words, communities were diverging due to differences in selective pressures. This successional divergence of communities with drought was unique for each host species. Understanding phyllosphere responses to environmental stresses is important as climate change-induced stresses are expected to reduce crop productivity and phyllosphere functioning. IMPORTANCE Leaf surface microbiomes have the potential to influence agricultural and ecosystem productivity. We assessed their stability by determining composition, functional resistance, and resilience. Resistance is the degree to which communities remain unchanged as a result of disturbance, and resilience is the ability of a community to recover to pre-disturbance conditions. By understanding the mechanisms of community assembly and how they relate to the resistance and resilience of microbial communities under common environmental stresses such as drought, we can better understand how communities will adapt to a changing environment and how we can promote healthy agricultural microbiomes. In this study, phyllosphere compositional stability was highly related to plant host species phylogeny and, to a lesser extent, known stress tolerances. Phyllosphere community assembly and stability are a result of complex interactions of ecological processes that are differentially imposed by host species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily K Bechtold
- Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Wolfgang Wanek
- Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, Center of Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Benedikt Nuesslein
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Michelle DaCosta
- Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Klaus Nüsslein
- Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
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VanderRoest JP, Fowler JA, Rhoades CC, Roth HK, Broeckling CD, Fegel TS, McKenna AM, Bechtold EK, Boot CM, Wilkins MJ, Borch T. Fire Impacts on the Soil Metabolome and Organic Matter Biodegradability. Environ Sci Technol 2024; 58:4167-4180. [PMID: 38385432 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c09797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Global wildfire activity has increased since the 1970s and is projected to intensify throughout the 21st century. Wildfires change the composition and biodegradability of soil organic matter (SOM) which contains nutrients that fuel microbial metabolism. Though persistent forms of SOM often increase postfire, the response of more biodegradable SOM remains unclear. Here we simulated severe wildfires through a controlled "pyrocosm" approach to identify biodegradable sources of SOM and characterize the soil metabolome immediately postfire. Using microbial amplicon (16S/ITS) sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, heterotrophic microbes (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Protobacteria) and specific metabolites (glycine, protocatechuate, citric cycle intermediates) were enriched in burned soils, indicating that burned soils contain a variety of substrates that support microbial metabolism. Molecular formulas assigned by 21 T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry showed that SOM in burned soil was lower in molecular weight and featured 20 to 43% more nitrogen-containing molecular formulas than unburned soil. We also measured higher water extractable organic carbon concentrations and higher CO2 efflux in burned soils. The observed enrichment of biodegradable SOM and microbial heterotrophs demonstrates the resilience of these soils to severe burning, providing important implications for postfire soil microbial and plant recolonization and ecosystem recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob P VanderRoest
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Julie A Fowler
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Charles C Rhoades
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, United States
| | - Holly K Roth
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Corey D Broeckling
- Bioanalysis and Omics Center, Analytical Resources Core, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80521, United States
| | - Timothy S Fegel
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526, United States
| | - Amy M McKenna
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States
| | - Emily K Bechtold
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Claudia M Boot
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Michael J Wilkins
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
| | - Thomas Borch
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
- Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521, United States
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Lin B, Foxfoot IR, Miller CM, Venkatamaran VV, Kerby JT, Bechtold EK, Kellogg BS, Nguyen N, Fashing PJ. Leopard predation on gelada monkeys at Guassa, Ethiopia. Am J Primatol 2020; 82:e23098. [PMID: 31994756 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/20/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Predation is widely believed to exert strong selective pressure on primate behavior and ecology but is difficult to study and rarely observed. In this study, we describe seven encounters between lone wild leopards (Panthera pardus) and herds of geladas (Theropithecus gelada) over a 6-year period in an intact Afroalpine grassland ecosystem at the Guassa Community Conservation Area, Ethiopia. Three encounters consisted of attempted predation on geladas by leopards, one of which was successful. All three attacks occurred in low-visibility microhabitats (dominated by tussock graminoids, mima mounds, or tall shrubs) that provided leopards with hidden viewsheds from which to ambush geladas. An additional four encounters did not result in an attempted attack but still document the consistently fearful responses of geladas to leopards. In encounters with leopards, geladas typically gave alarm calls (n = 7 of 7 encounters), reduced interindividual distances (n = 5), and collectively fled towards or remained at their sleeping cliffs (n = 7), the only significant refugia in the open-country habitat at Guassa. Geladas did not engage in mobbing behavior towards leopards. Encounters with leopards tended to occur on days when gelada herd sizes were small, raising the possibility that leopards, as ambush hunters, might stalk geladas on days when fewer eyes and ears make them less likely to be detected. We compare the behavioral responses of geladas to leopards at Guassa with those previously reported at Arsi and the Simien Mountains and discuss how gelada vulnerability and responses to leopards compare with those of other primate species living in habitats containing more refugia. Lastly, we briefly consider how living in multilevel societies may represent an adaptive response by geladas and other open-country primates to predation pressure from leopards and other large carnivores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Lin
- Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
| | | | - Carrie M Miller
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | | | - Jeffrey T Kerby
- Neukom Institute for Computational Science, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
| | - Emily K Bechtold
- Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Bryce S Kellogg
- Forest Restoration Program, The Nature Conservancy, Bend, Oregon
| | - Nga Nguyen
- Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Peter J Fashing
- Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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Nguyen N, Lee LM, Fashing PJ, Nurmi NO, Stewart KM, Turner TJ, Barry TS, Callingham KR, Goodale CB, Kellogg BS, Burke RJ, Bechtold EK, Claase MJ, Eriksen GA, Jones SC, Kerby JT, Kraus JB, Miller CM, Trew TH, Zhao Y, Beierschmitt EC, Ramsay MS, Reynolds JD, Venkataraman VV. Comparative primate obstetrics: Observations of 15 diurnal births in wild gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelada) and their implications for understanding human and nonhuman primate birth evolution. Am J Phys Anthropol 2017; 163:14-29. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Revised: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nga Nguyen
- Department of Anthropology & Environmental Studies Program; California State University, Fullerton; Fullerton California
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES); Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo; Oslo Norway
| | - Laura M. Lee
- School of Veterinary Medicine; University of Wisconsin; Madison Wisconsin
| | - Peter J. Fashing
- Department of Anthropology & Environmental Studies Program; California State University, Fullerton; Fullerton California
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES); Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo; Oslo Norway
| | - Niina O. Nurmi
- Department of Behavioral Ecology; Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen; Göttingen Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - C. Barret Goodale
- School of Natural Resources and Extension; University of Alaska Fairbanks; Fairbanks Alaska
| | | | - Ryan J. Burke
- Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford England, UK
| | - Emily K. Bechtold
- Department of Microbiology; University of Massachusetts; Amherst Massachusetts
| | - Megan J. Claase
- Windy Ridge, Spring Hill, Little Staughton, Bedford; Bedfordshire England, UK
| | - G. Anita Eriksen
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES); Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo; Oslo Norway
| | - Sorrel C.Z. Jones
- School of Biological Sciences; Royal Holloway, University of London; England, UK
| | - Jeffrey T. Kerby
- Department of Biological Sciences; Dartmouth College; Hanover New Hampshire
| | - Jacob B. Kraus
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Front Royal Virginia
| | - Carrie M. Miller
- Department of Anthropology; University of Minnesota; Minneapolis Minnesota
| | | | - Yi Zhao
- Environmental Studies Program California State University Fullerton; Fullerton California
| | - Evan C. Beierschmitt
- Department of Anthropology; University of California, Santa Barbara; Santa Barbara California
| | - Malcolm S. Ramsay
- Department of Anthropology; University of Toronto; Toronto Ontario Canada
| | | | - Vivek V. Venkataraman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology; Harvard University; Cambridge Massachusetts
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