Patterns of Soil Bacteria and Canopy Community Structure Related to Tropical Peatland Development

• Published in: Wetlands (Wilmington, N.C.) Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 769 - 782
• Main Authors: Troxler, Tiffany G., Ikenaga, Makoto, Scinto, Leonard, Boyer, Joseph N., Condit, Richard, Perez, Rolando, Gann, George D., Childers, Daniel L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-08-2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bacteria; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Canopies; Coastal Sciences; Coasts; Community structure; Ecological succession; Ecology; Ecosystems; Environmental gradient; Environmental Management; Enzymatic activity; Enzymes; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Glucosidase; Hydrogeology; Hydrology; Landscape Ecology; Life Sciences; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Organic matter; Organic phosphorus; Organic soils; Pattern formation; Peatlands; Phosphorus; Plant communities; Pore water; Precipitation; Respiration; Soil bacteria; Soil microorganisms; Soil organic matter; Soil structure; Soils; Vegetation; Panama; Ombrotrophy; Plant; Enzyme activity; Acidobacteria; PCR-DGGE; Phosphorus; Bacteria; Forest; Bog; Respiration; Wetland
• ISSN: 0277-5212; 1943-6246
• DOI: 10.1007/s13157-012-0310-z

Natural environmental gradients provide important information about the ecological constraints on plant and microbial community structure. In a tropical peatland of Panama, we investigated community structure (forest canopy and soil bacteria) and microbial community function (soil enzyme activities and respiration) along an ecosystem development gradient that coincided with a natural P gradient. Highly structured plant and bacterial communities that correlated with gradients in phosphorus status and soil organic matter content characterized the peatland. A secondary gradient in soil porewater NH
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described significant variance in soil microbial respiration and β-1-4-glucosidase activity. Covariation of canopy and soil bacteria taxa contributed to a better understanding of ecological classifications for biotic communities with applicability for tropical peatland ecosystems of Central America. Moreover, plants and soils, linked primarily through increasing P deficiency, influenced strong patterning of plant and bacterial community structure related to the development of this tropical peatland ecosystem.