The Soil Microbiome of the Laurel Forest in Garajonay National Park (La Gomera, Canary Islands): Comparing Unburned and Burned Habitats after a Wildfire

The evergreen laurel forest is a relic of ancient subtropical/tropical forests, of which the best remnant in the Canary Islands is in Garajonay National Park, on La Gomera island. The soil microbiome associated with a mature undisturbed (unburned) laurel forest was characterized at two locations at...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forests 2019-12, Vol.10 (12), p.1051
Main Authors: Villadas, Pablo J., Díaz-Díaz, Sara, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Antonio, del Arco-Aguilar, Marcelino, Fernández-González, Antonio J., Pérez-Yépez, Juan, Arbelo, Carmen, González-Mancebo, Juana M., Fernández-López, Manuel, León-Barrios, Milagros
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidobacteria
Actinobacteria
Altitude
Bacteria
Carbon
Community composition
Composition
Coniferous forests
Forest & brush fires
Forest soils
Humidity
Islands
Microbiomes
Mountains
National parks
Nitrogen
Soil microorganisms
Soils
Species diversity
Species richness
Tropical forests
Vegetation
Wildfires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The evergreen laurel forest is a relic of ancient subtropical/tropical forests, of which the best remnant in the Canary Islands is in Garajonay National Park, on La Gomera island. The soil microbiome associated with a mature undisturbed (unburned) laurel forest was characterized at two locations at different topographical positions on the mountain: The slope and the ridge crest. Given the unusual circumstance of an intense wildfire that severely affected part of this forest, the burned soils were also studied. The soil in undisturbed areas was relatively uniform. The bacterial community composition was dominated by bacteria from phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria. The wildfire changed the composition of the bacterial communities. The Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Alphaproteobacteria (dominant class in unburned forests) significantly decreased in burned soils along with a parallel high increase in Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes. We further showed the dramatic effect of a wildfire on the soil microbiome of the laurel forest, appearing as a loss of species richness and diversity, species dominance, and changes in the composition of the bacterial communities.
ISSN:1999-4907
1999-4907
DOI:10.3390/f10121051