Microbial Community Responses to Alterations in Historical Fire Regimes in Montane Grasslands

Gokul, Jarishma K; Matcher, Gwynneth; Dames, Joanna F; Nkangala, Kuhle; Gordijn, Paul J; Barker, Nigel P

Title: Microbial Community Responses to Alterations in Historical Fire Regimes in Montane Grasslands
Creator: Gokul, Jarishma K
Creator: Matcher, Gwynneth
Creator: Dames, Joanna F
Creator: Nkangala, Kuhle
Creator: Gordijn, Paul J
Creator: Barker, Nigel P
Subject: To be catalogued
Date Issued: 2023
Date: 2023
Type: text
Type: article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440366
Identifier: vital:73777
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.3390/d15070818
Description: The influence of fire regimes on soil microbial diversity in montane grasslands is a relatively unexplored area of interest. Understanding the belowground diversity is a crucial stepping-stone toward unravelling community dynamics, nutrient sequestration, and overall ecosystem stability. In this study, metabarcoding was used to unravel the impact of fire disturbance regimes on bacterial and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community structures in South African montane grasslands that have been subjected to an intermediate (up to five years) term experimental fire-return interval gradient. Bacterial communities in this study exhibited a shift in composition in soils subjected to annual and biennial fires compared to the controls, with carbon and nitrogen identified as significant potential chemical drivers of bacterial communities. Shifts in relative abundances of dominant fungal operational taxonomic units were noted, with Glomeromycota as the dominant arbuscular mycorrhiza observed across the fire-return gradient. A reduction in mycorrhizal root colonisation was also observed in frequently burnt autumnal grassland plots in this study. Furthermore, evidence of significant mutualistic interactions between bacteria and fungi that may act as drivers of the observed community structure were detected. Through this pilot study, we can show that fire regime strongly impacts bacterial and fungal communities in southern African montane grasslands, and that changes to their usually resilient structure are mediated by seasonal burn patterns, chemical drivers, and mutualistic interactions between these two groups.
Format: 17 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Diversity
Relation: Gokul, J.K., Matcher, G., Dames, J., Nkangala, K., Gordijn, P.J. and Barker, N.P., 2023. Microbial Community Responses to Alterations in Historical Fire Regimes in Montane Grasslands. Diversity, 15(7), p.818
Relation: Diversity volume 15 number 7 1 17 2023
Rights: Publisher
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the MDPI Open Access Statement (https://www.int-res.com/journals/terms-of-use/)

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Matcher, Gwynneth (Dr)

Dames, Joanna Felicity (Prof)

RU Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics

SDG 15. Life On Land

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