Increasing Ages of Inga punctata Tree Soils Facilitate Greater Fungal Community Abundance and Successional Development, and Efficiency of Microbial Organic Carbon Utilization

Leguminous trees are thought to enhance soil carbon (C) accumulation following reforestation, through mostly unknown mechanisms. This study amplified soil DNA using the ITS1F and ITS4 primers for PCR and Illumina MiSeq methods to identify fungal taxa, and traditional C analysis methods to evaluate h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2024-09, Vol.12 (10), p.1996
Main Authors: Eaton, William D, Hamilton, Debra A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Bacteria
Biomass
Carbon
Carbon content
Cloud forests
Comparative analysis
complex carbon decomposition
Decomposition
Deforestation
Efficiency
Forest soils
fungal community complexity
fungal decomposition
Fungi
Identification methods
Inga punctata tree soils
Inga reforestation
Lignin
Microorganisms
Organic carbon
Organic soils
Pasture
Reforestation
Soil strength
Soils
Trees
tropical soil fungi
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Summary:Leguminous trees are thought to enhance soil carbon (C) accumulation following reforestation, through mostly unknown mechanisms. This study amplified soil DNA using the ITS1F and ITS4 primers for PCR and Illumina MiSeq methods to identify fungal taxa, and traditional C analysis methods to evaluate how planted 4-, 8-, and 11-year-old trees affected soil fungal community compositions and C utilization patterns compared to old-growth trees and an adjacent unplanted pasture within the same reforestation zone in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Along the tree age gradient, the planted trees enhanced the tree soil C capture capacity, as indicated by increased levels of soil biomass C, Respiration, and efficiency of organic C use (with lower CO values), and development of increasingly more abundant, stable, and successionally developed fungal communities, including those associated with the decomposition of complex organic C compounds. The level and strength of differences coincided with differences in the time of separation between the pasture and tree age or between the different tree ages. Fungal taxa were also identified as potential indicators of the early and late stages of soil recovery. Thus, planting should be part of future reforestation strategies used in this region of the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms12101996