Afforestation of <i>Taxodium</i> Hybrid Zhongshanshan Influences Soil Bacterial Community Structure by Altering Soil Properties in the Yangtze River Basin, China
Qin Shi,
Zhidong Zhou,
Ziyang Wang,
Zhiguo Lu,
Jiangang Han,
Jianhui Xue,
David Creech,
Yunlong Yin,
Jianfeng Hua
Affiliations
Qin Shi
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Zhidong Zhou
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Ziyang Wang
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Zhiguo Lu
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Jiangang Han
College of Biology and Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Jianhui Xue
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
David Creech
Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX 75962-3000, USA
Yunlong Yin
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Jianfeng Hua
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Mem. Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Taxodium hybrid Zhongshanshan has been widely planted in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) for soil and carbon conservation, with quantities over 50 million. The objective of this study was to determine how T. hybrid Zhongshanshan plantations affected soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community structure in the YRB, and to examine the consistency of changes by afforestation. Soils under T. Zhongshanshan plantations across six sites of the YRB were compared with soils of adjacent non-forested sites. Soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community structure were determined to clarify edaphic driving factors and reveal the effects of afforestation on bacteria. The results indicated that most soil attributes manifested improvements, e.g., total nitrogen in Jiangxi and Shanghai; available phosphorus in Hubei, Chongqing and Yunnan, exhibited the potential to maintain or ameliorate soil quality. A decrease in soil bulk density caused by plantation was also observed at the expense of soil macro-aggregates augment. Afforestation of T. Zhongshanshan plantation has habitually improved Shannon diversity and Chao1 richness, of which dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria, and increased the relative abundance of the phyla Proteobacteria and Nitrospirae, and the classes Flavobacteriia, Acidobacteria_Gp5, and Bacilli. We concluded that T. Zhongshanshan plantation can be employed to facilitate soil nutrient accumulation in the YRB, but that the degree, rate and direction of changes in soil attributes are sites dependent. It is recommended that afforestation of nutrient-depleted and less productive lands in the YRB should utilize this fast-growing species in combination with proper fertilization.
