Soil Properties and Microbial Diversity at the Frontier of Laohugou Glacier Retreat in Qilian Mountains

Glacier retreat may result in the decomposition of old organic carbon stored at the frontier of glacier retreat and the release of greenhouse gases such as CO 2 and methane into the atmosphere. This process may gradually transform the soil in the region from its original status as a carbon sink into...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Current microbiology Vol. 77; no. 3; pp. 425 - 433
Main Authors:	Zhu, Yajie, Zhang, Yiling, Chen, Huiying, Wang, Yaqi, Cao, Fuqian, Sun, Weijun, Qi, Xiaoyu, Zhao, Yucui, Xu, Fei
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York Springer US 01-03-2020 Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Amino acids Archaea Archaea - classification Archaea - metabolism Bacteria - classification Bacteria - metabolism Biomedical and Life Sciences Biotechnology Carbohydrate metabolism Carbohydrates Carbon Carbon - metabolism Carbon dioxide Carbon sinks Carbon sources China Climate change Decomposition Dominant species Fungi Fungi - classification Fungi - metabolism Glaciers Global warming Greenhouse effect Greenhouse gases Ice Cover - microbiology Life Sciences Metabolism Methane - metabolism Microbiology Microorganisms Mountains Nitrogen - metabolism Organic carbon Organic matter Positive feedback Rivers Sandy soils Soil Microbiology Soil properties China
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Summary:	Glacier retreat may result in the decomposition of old organic carbon stored at the frontier of glacier retreat and the release of greenhouse gases such as CO 2 and methane into the atmosphere. This process may gradually transform the soil in the region from its original status as a carbon sink into a carbon source, thus producing a positive feedback effect on global warming. In this study, Laohugou Glacier No. 12, Qilian Mountains, China, was taken as the research object, and the newly melted soil (Q1) at the frontier of glacier retreat and the sandy soil (Q2) on the bank of the nearby river were collected. The content of accumulation of organic matter (AOM) in Q1 soil was 5.56 ± 0.27 g/kg, and the total nitrogen was 0.60 ± 0.03 g/kg, which was significantly higher than that in Q2. The soil microbial carbon metabolism of Q2 was significantly ( P < 0.01) higher than that of Q1 and the ability of organic matter to decompose was greater. The alpha diversity index of bacteria, fungi and archaea of Q2 was significantly higher than that of Q1. It may be that there were dominant species in Q1 causing the lower species evenness. The archaea metabolic function genes in Q1 were higher than those in Q2 because archaea are better adapted to a frozen environment. Bacterial carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism was abundant in Q2 and was related to microbial transformation of the carbon source into CO 2 .
ISSN:	0343-8651 1432-0991
DOI:	10.1007/s00284-019-01846-x