Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Soil Microbial Community Response to Drought and Precipitation Variability in the Chihuahuan Desert

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Increases in the magnitude and variability of precipitation events have been predicted for the Chihuahuan Desert region of West Texas. As patterns of moisture inputs and amounts change, soil microbial communities will respond to these alterations in soil moisture windows. In this study, we examined the soil microbial community structure within three vegetation zones along the Pine Canyon Watershed, an elevation and vegetation gradient in Big Bend National Park, Chihuahuan Desert. Soil samples at each site were obtained in mid-winter (January) and in mid-summer (August) for 2 years to capture a component of the variability in soil temperature and moisture that can occur seasonally and between years along this watershed. Precipitation patterns and amounts differed substantially between years with a drought characterizing most of the second year. Soils were collected during the drought period and following a large rainfall event and compared to soil samples collected during a relatively average season. Structural changes within microbial community in response to site, season, and precipitation patterns were evaluated using fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analyses. Fungal FAME amounts differed significantly across seasons and sites and greatly outweighed the quantity of bacterial and actinomycete FAME levels for all sites and seasons. The highest fungal FAME levels were obtained in the low desert scrub site and not from the high elevation oak–pine forests. Total bacterial and actinomycete FAME levels did not differ significantly across season and year within any of the three locations along the watershed. Total bacterial and actinomycete FAME levels in the low elevation desert-shrub and grassland sites were slightly higher in the winter than in the summer. Microbial community structure at the high elevation oak–pine forest site was strongly correlated with levels of NH4 +–N, % soil moisture, and amounts of soil organic matter irrespective of season. Microbial community structure at the low elevation desert scrub and sotol grasslands sites was most strongly related to soil pH with bacterial and actinobacterial FAME levels accounting for site differences along the gradient. DGGE band counts of amplified soil bacterial DNA were found to differ significantly across sites and season with the highest band counts found in the mid-elevation grassland site. The least number of bands was observed in the high elevation oak–pine forest following the large summer-rain event that occurred after a prolonged drought. Microbial responses to changes in precipitation frequency and amount due to climate change will differ among vegetation zones along this Chihuahuan Desert watershed gradient. Soil bacterial communities at the mid-elevation grasslands site are the most vulnerable to changes in precipitation frequency and timing, while fungal community structure is most vulnerable in the low desert scrub site. The differential susceptibility of the microbial communities to changes in precipitation amounts along the elevation gradient reflects the interactive effects of the soil moisture window duration following a precipitation event and differences in soil heat loads. Amounts and types of carbon inputs may not be as important in regulating microbial structure among vegetation zones within in an arid environment as is the seasonal pattern of soil moisture and the soil heat load profile that characterizes the location.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bääth E, Anderson T-H (2000) Comparison of soil/fungal bacterial ratios in a pH gradient using physiological and PLFA-based techniques. Soil Biol Biochem 35:955–963

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bakken LR (1997) Culturable and nonculturable bacteria in soil. In: Elsas JDV, Trevors JT, Wellington EMH (eds) Modern soil microbiology. Marcel Dekker, New York, NY, pp 47–61

    Google Scholar 

  3. Bell CW, McIntyre NE, Cox SB, Tissue DT, Zak JC (2008) Soil microbial responses to temporal variations of moisture and temperature in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland. Microb Ecol 56:153–167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bowker MA, Reed SC, Belnap J, Phillips SL (2002) Temporal variation in community composition, pigmentation, and Fv/Fm of desert cyanobacterial soil crusts. Microb Ecol 43:13–25

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Clarholm M, Rosswall T (1980) Biomass and turnover of bacteria in a forest soil and a peat. Soil Biol Biochem 12:49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Collins HP, Cavigelli MA (2003) Soil microbial community characteristics along an elevation gradient in the Laguna Mountains of southern California. Soil Biol Biochem 35:1027–1037

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. DeForest JL, Zak DR, Pregitzer KS, Burton AJ (2004) Atmospheric nitrate deposition and the microbial degradation of cellobiose and vanillin in a northern hardwood forest. Soil Biol Biochem 36:965–971

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Doroshenko EA, Zenova GM, Zvyagintsev DG, Sudnitsyn II (2005) Spore germination and mycelial growth of Streptomycetes at different humidity levels. Microbiology 74:690–694

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dose K, Bieger-Dose A, Ernst B, Feister U, Gomez-Silva B, Klein A, Risi S, Stridde C (2001) Survival of microorganisms under the extreme conditions of the Atacama Desert. Orig Life Evol Biosph 31:287–303

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Ellis RJ, Morgan P, Weightman AJ, Fry JC (2003) Cultivation-dependent and -independent approaches for determining bacterial diversity in heavy-metal-contaminated soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:3223–3230

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ferroni GD, Kaminski JS (1980) Psychrophiles, psychrotrophs, and mesophiles in an environment which experiences seasonal temperature fluctuations. Can J Microbiol 26:1184–1190

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Field A (2000) Discovering statistics using SPSS for Windows. SAGE, London

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fierer N, Jackson RE (2006) The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103:626–631

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Griffiths RI, Whiteley AS, O’Donnell AG, Bailey MJ (2003) Influence of depth and sampling time on bacterial community structure in an upland grassland soil. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 43:35–43

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Herrmann R, Stottlemyer R, Zak JC, Edmonds RL, Miegroet HV (2000) Biogeochemical effects of global change on U.S. national parks. J Am Water Resour Assoc 36:337–346

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Isermann M (2005) Soil pH and species diversity in coastal dunes. Plant Ecol 178:111–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Jackson RB, Caldwell MM (1993) Geostatistical patterns of soil heterogeneity around individual perennial plants. J Ecol 81:683–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jacoby WG (1998) Statistical graphics for visualizing multivariate data. SAGE, Thousand Oaks, CA

    Google Scholar 

  19. Jensen KD, Beier C, Michelsen A, Emmet BA (2003) Effects of experimental drought on microbial processes in two temperate heathlands at contrasting water conditions. Appl Soil Ecol 24:165–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jongman RHG, ter Braak CJF, van Tongeren OFR (1995) Data analysis in community and landscape ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  21. Kemp PR (1983) Phenological patterns of Chihuahuan Desert plants in relation to the timing of water availability. J Ecol 71:427–436

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kieft TL (1991) Soil microbiology in reclamation of arid and semiarid lands. In: Skujins J (ed) Semiarid lands and deserts: soil resource and reclamation. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 209–256

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kloos K, Husgen UM, Bothe H (1998) DNA-probing for genes coding for denitrification, N2-fixation and nitrification in bacteria isolated from different soils. Z Naturforsch 53:69–81

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Klose S, Acosta-Martinez V, Ajawa HA (2006) Microbial community composition and enzyme activities in a sandy loam soil after fumigation with methyl bromide or alternative biocides. Soil Biol Biochem 38:1243–1254

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Kuhns H, Vukovich JM (1997) The emissions inventories and SMOKE modeling efforts used to support the BRAVO study. BRAVO study emissions inventory

  26. Little RJA, Rubin DB (1987) Statistical analysis with missing data. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  27. MacKay WP, Loring SJ, Zak JC, Silva SI, Fisher FM, Whitford WG (1994) Factors affecting loss in mass of creosotebush leaf-litter on the soil surface in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Southwest Nat 39:78–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Marschner B, Noble AD (2000) Chemical and biological processes leading to the neutralization of acidity in soil incubated with litter materials. Soil Biol Biochem 32:805–813 28

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Miller RH, Keeny DR (1982) Methods of soil analysis. Part 2: Chemical and microbiological properties. American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  30. Muyzer G, De Waal EC, Uitterlinden AG (1993) Profiling of complex microbial populations by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of polymerase chain reaction-amplified genes coding for 16S rRNA. Appl Environ Microbiol 59:695–700

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Noy-Meir I (1985) Desert ecosystem structure and function. In: Evenari M, Noy-Meir I, Goodall DW (eds) Hot deserts and arid shrub-lands. Ecosystems of the world. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 93–104

    Google Scholar 

  32. Nunan N, Morgan MA, Herlihy M (1997) Ultraviolet absorbance (280 nm) of compounds released from soil during chloroform fumigation as an estimate of the microbial biomass. Soil Biol Biochem 30:1599–1603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Parker LW, Freckman DW, Steinberger Y, Driggers L, Whitford WG (1984) Effects of simulated rainfall and litter quantities on desert soil biota: soil respiration, microflora, and protozoa. Pedobiologia 27:185–195

    Google Scholar 

  34. Piao HC, Hong YT, Yuan ZY (2000) Seasonal changes of microbial biomass carbon related to climatic factors in soils from karst areas of southwest China. Biol Fertil Soils 30:294–297

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Robertson GP, Sollins P, Boyd GE, Lajitha K (1999) Exchangeable ions, pH, and cation exchange capacity. In: Robertson GP, Coleman DC, Bledose CS, Sollins P (eds) Standard oil methods for long-term ecological research. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 106–114

    Google Scholar 

  36. Sala OE, Lauenroth WK, Parton WJ, Trlica MJ (1981) Water status of soil and vegetation in a shortgrass steppe. Oecologia 48:327–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Sinsabaugh RL, Gallo ME, Lauber C, Waldrop MP, Zak DR (2005) Extracellular enzyme activities and soil organic matter dynamics for northern hardwood forests receiving simulated nitrogen deposition. Biogeochem 75:201–215

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Smit E, Leeflang P, Gommans SC, Broek JVD, Mil SV, Wernars K (2001) Diversity and seasonal fluctuations of the dominant members of the bacterial soil community in a wheat field as determined by cultivation and molecular methods. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:2284–2291

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. Freeman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  40. Steinberger Y, Zelles L, Bai QY, Lutzow MV, Munch JC (1999) Phospholipid fatty acid profiles as indicators for the microbial community structure in soils along a climatic transect in the Judean Desert. Biol Fertil Soils 28:292–300

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Tabachnick BG, Fidell LS (1996) Using multivariate statistics. HarperCollins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  42. Team NAS (2000) Climate change impacts on the United States: the potential consequences of climate variability and change. US Global Change Research Program

  43. Ter Braak CJF (1996) Unimodal models to relate species to environment. DLO-Agricultural Mathematics Group, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  44. Ter Braak CJF, Smilauer P (1998) CANOCO reference manual and user’s guide to Canoco for Windows. Microcomputer Power, Ithaca

  45. Van Miegroet H (1995) Inorganic nitrogen determined by laboratory and field extractions of two forest soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 59:549–553

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass c. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Vishnevetsky S, Steinberger Y (1997) Bacterial and fungal dynamics and their contribution to microbial biomass in desert soil. J Arid Environ 37:83–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Whitford WG (2002) Ants. In: Lal R (ed) Encyclopedia of soil science. Marcel Dekker, NY, pp 76–79

    Google Scholar 

  49. Zak JC, Sinsabaugh R, MacKay WP (1995) Windows of opportunity in desert ecosystems: their implications to fungal community development. Can J Bot 73:S1407–S1414

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Zak JC, Ziehr LL, Urbanczyk K, McHam JB, Yarborough K (1997) Presented at the Big Bend National Park Watershed Program: monitoring microbial activity and diversity along an elevational gradient. In: Making Protection Work—Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Research and Resource Management in Parks and Public Lands. In Harmon D (ed), George Wright Society Bull, pp 246–254

  51. Ziehr L (1997) Microbial biodiversity along an arid watershed. Texas Tech University, Lubbock

    Google Scholar 

  52. Zvyagintsev DG, Zenova GM, Doroshenko EA, Gryadunova AA, Gracheva TA, Sudnitsyn II (2007) Actinomycete growth in conditions of low moisture. Biol Bull 34:296–302

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a USGS-BRD and a National Park Service grants to J. Zak. The staff of Big Bend National Park and input from Dr. Ed Sobek (Clean Air Labs) are gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are extended for the guidance and assistance given by Dr. Michael San Francisco, Dr. Randall Jeter, and Colin Bell at Texas Tech University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 43131, Lubbock, TX, 79409-3131, USA

    Jeb S. Clark, James H. Campbell, Heath Grizzle & John C. Zak

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Nephrology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Research Wing, Room R127, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS, 39216-4505, USA

    Jeb S. Clark

  3. Clean Air Laboratory, 228 Midway Lane, Suite B, Oak Ridge, TN, 37830, USA

    James H. Campbell

  4. Plant Stress and Water Conservation Lab, USDA-ARS, 3810 4th Street, Lubbock, TX, 79415, USA

    Veronica Acosta-Martìnez

Authors
  1. Jeb S. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James H. Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Heath Grizzle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Veronica Acosta-Martìnez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John C. Zak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeb S. Clark.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, J.S., Campbell, J.H., Grizzle, H. et al. Soil Microbial Community Response to Drought and Precipitation Variability in the Chihuahuan Desert. Microb Ecol 57, 248–260 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-008-9475-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-008-9475-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation