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Interactive influences of climate and parent material on soil microbial community structure in Bornean tropical forest ecosystems

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Climate and parent material strongly control vegetation structure and function, yet their control over the belowground microbial community is poorly understood. We assessed variation in microbial lipid profiles in undisturbed forest soils (organic and surface mineral horizons) along an altitudinal gradient (700, 1,700, and 2,700 m a.s.l. mean annual temperature of 12–24°C) on two contrasting parent materials (acidic metasedimentary vs. ultrabasic igneous rock) in Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo. Soil organic carbon and nitrogen concentrations were generally higher at higher altitudes and, within a site, at upper soil horizons. Soil pH ranged from 3.9 to 5.3, with higher values for the ultrabasic soils especially at higher altitudes. The major shifts in microbial community structure observed were the decline in the ratio of fungal to bacterial lipid markers both with increasing soil depth and decreasing altitude. The positive correlation between this ratio with soil C and N concentrations suggested a strong substrate control in accord with the literature from mid to high-latitude ecosystems. Principal component analysis using seven groups of signature lipids suggested a significant altitude by parent material interaction—the significant difference in microbial community structure between the two rock types found at 2,700-m sites developed on weakly weathered soils diminished with decreasing altitude towards 700-m sites where soils were strongly weathered. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that parent material effect on soil microbial community (either directly via soil geochemistry or indirectly via floristic composition) is stronger at an earlier stage of ecosystem development.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Yasuto Fujiki for assisting field sampling, and Lindsey Moritz and Harry Read for lipid extraction and analyses. Discussions with L. Moritz and M. Ushio are also appreciated. We especially thank the Sabah Parks for their generous support of the study. This study was funded by a grant from the Japanese MESSC (no. 18255003) to K. K, and by the Global Environment Research Fund (F-071) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

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  1. Rota Wagai

    Present address: National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Rota Wagai & Takami Satomura

  2. Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Kanehiro Kitayama

  3. Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Ryosuke Fu**uma & Teri Balser

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  1. Rota Wagai
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Correspondence to Rota Wagai.

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Wagai, R., Kitayama, K., Satomura, T. et al. Interactive influences of climate and parent material on soil microbial community structure in Bornean tropical forest ecosystems. Ecol Res 26, 627–636 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-011-0822-7

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