Beyond biogeographic patterns: Processes shaping the microbial landscape in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River

TY - JOUR

T1 - Beyond biogeographic patterns

T2 - Processes shaping the microbial landscape in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River

AU - Wan, Wenjie

AU - Gadd, Geoffrey M.

AU - Gu, Ji Dong

AU - Liu, Wenzhi

AU - Chen, Peng

AU - Zhang, Quanfa

AU - Yang, Yuyi

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42107147), Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2017388), National Science and Technology Fundamental Resources Investigation Program of China (2019FY100603), and the Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology of China (SKLURE2021‐2‐5). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. mLife published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. on behalf of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

PY - 2023/3/31

Y1 - 2023/3/31

N2 - Deciphering biogeographic patterns of microorganisms is important for evaluating the maintenance of microbial diversity with respect to the ecosystem functions they drives. However, ecological processes shaping distribution patterns of microorganisms across large spatial-scale watersheds remain largely unknown. Using Illumina sequencing and multiple statistical methods, we characterized distribution patterns and maintenance diversity of microorganisms (i.e., archaea, bacteria, and fungi) in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River. Distinct microbial distribution patterns were found between soils and sediments, and microbial community similarity significantly decreased with increasing geographical distance. Physicochemical properties showed a larger effect on microbial community composition than geospatial and climatic factors. Archaea and fungi displayed stronger species replacements and weaker environmental constraints in soils than that in sediments, but opposite for bacteria. Archaea, bacteria, and fungi in soils showed broader environmental breadths and stronger phylogenetic signals compared to those in sediments, suggesting stronger environmental adaptation. Stochasticity dominated community assemblies of archaea and fungi in soils and sediments, whereas determinism dominated bacterial community assembly. Our results have therefore highlighted distinct microbial distribution patterns and diversity maintenance mechanisms between soils and sediments, and emphasized important roles of species replacement, environmental adaptability, and ecological assembly processes on microbial landscape. Our findings are helpful in predicting loss of microbial diversity in the Yangtze River Basin, and might assist the establishment of environmental policies for protecting fragile watersheds.

AB - Deciphering biogeographic patterns of microorganisms is important for evaluating the maintenance of microbial diversity with respect to the ecosystem functions they drives. However, ecological processes shaping distribution patterns of microorganisms across large spatial-scale watersheds remain largely unknown. Using Illumina sequencing and multiple statistical methods, we characterized distribution patterns and maintenance diversity of microorganisms (i.e., archaea, bacteria, and fungi) in soils and sediments along the Yangtze River. Distinct microbial distribution patterns were found between soils and sediments, and microbial community similarity significantly decreased with increasing geographical distance. Physicochemical properties showed a larger effect on microbial community composition than geospatial and climatic factors. Archaea and fungi displayed stronger species replacements and weaker environmental constraints in soils than that in sediments, but opposite for bacteria. Archaea, bacteria, and fungi in soils showed broader environmental breadths and stronger phylogenetic signals compared to those in sediments, suggesting stronger environmental adaptation. Stochasticity dominated community assemblies of archaea and fungi in soils and sediments, whereas determinism dominated bacterial community assembly. Our results have therefore highlighted distinct microbial distribution patterns and diversity maintenance mechanisms between soils and sediments, and emphasized important roles of species replacement, environmental adaptability, and ecological assembly processes on microbial landscape. Our findings are helpful in predicting loss of microbial diversity in the Yangtze River Basin, and might assist the establishment of environmental policies for protecting fragile watersheds.

KW - environmental breadth

KW - environmental constraint

KW - phylogenetic signal

KW - species replacement

KW - stochasticity versus determinism

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85152713416

U2 - 10.1002/mlf2.12062

DO - 10.1002/mlf2.12062

M3 - Article

C2 - 38818339

AN - SCOPUS:85152713416

SN - 2097-1699

VL - 2

SP - 89

EP - 100

JO - mLife

JF - mLife

IS - 1

ER -