Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis
Abstract The size-plasticity hypothesis posits that larger size organisms are less plastic in their metabolic rates and, therefore, are more strongly environmental-filtered than smaller organisms. Many studies have supported this hypothesis by evaluating the relative roles of environmental filtratio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2022-10-01
|
| Series: | ISME Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00185-6 |
| _version_ | 1797230299167326208 |
|---|---|
| author | Alain Isabwe Haifeng Yao Shixiu Zhang Yuji Jiang Martin F. Breed Xin Sun |
| author_facet | Alain Isabwe Haifeng Yao Shixiu Zhang Yuji Jiang Martin F. Breed Xin Sun |
| author_sort | Alain Isabwe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The size-plasticity hypothesis posits that larger size organisms are less plastic in their metabolic rates and, therefore, are more strongly environmental-filtered than smaller organisms. Many studies have supported this hypothesis by evaluating the relative roles of environmental filtration and dispersal for different taxonomic groups of soil organisms. Most observations are made at large spatial scales, which are assumed to have a wide array of varying habitats. However, since urbanization causes habitat fragmentation at smaller regional scales, testing the size-plasticity hypothesis at this scale would help better understand the spatial assortment of urban soil organisms which, in turn, would help to develop improved management and conservation strategies for urban soil health. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding on five groups of soil biota (bacteria, fungi, protists, nematodes, and invertebrates) to assess the relative importance of dispersal and environmental filters to examine the size-plasticity hypothesis at this spatial scale in an urban environment. We observed strong distance-decay of community similarities associated with higher levels of stochastic changes in bacteria, nematode, and protist communities but not fungal or invertebrate communities. Bacterial communities occupied the widest niche followed by protists and nematodes, potentially because of their higher dispersal abilities compared to the larger soil organisms. Null deviation of communities varied with taxonomic groups where bacteria and nematodes were mainly driven by homogenizing dispersal, protists and fungi by drift, and soil invertebrates by environmental selection. We further identified a small percentage of locally-adapted taxa (2.1%) that could be focal taxa for conservation and restoration efforts by, for example, restoring their habitats and enhancing their regional connectivity. These results support the size-plasticity hypothesis at the relatively unexplored regional scale in an urbanization context, and provide new information for improving urban soil health and sustainable city models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:26:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0cd6d03b5c044d4ea0bd175143944222 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2730-6151 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T15:26:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISME Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-0cd6d03b5c044d4ea0bd1751439442222024-04-02T05:57:01ZengOxford University PressISME Communications2730-61512022-10-012111110.1038/s43705-022-00185-6Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesisAlain Isabwe0Haifeng Yao1Shixiu Zhang2Yuji Jiang3Martin F. Breed4Xin Sun5Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of SciencesCollege of Science and Engineering, Flinders UniversityKey Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Fujian Key Laboratory of Watershed Ecology, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract The size-plasticity hypothesis posits that larger size organisms are less plastic in their metabolic rates and, therefore, are more strongly environmental-filtered than smaller organisms. Many studies have supported this hypothesis by evaluating the relative roles of environmental filtration and dispersal for different taxonomic groups of soil organisms. Most observations are made at large spatial scales, which are assumed to have a wide array of varying habitats. However, since urbanization causes habitat fragmentation at smaller regional scales, testing the size-plasticity hypothesis at this scale would help better understand the spatial assortment of urban soil organisms which, in turn, would help to develop improved management and conservation strategies for urban soil health. Here, we used DNA metabarcoding on five groups of soil biota (bacteria, fungi, protists, nematodes, and invertebrates) to assess the relative importance of dispersal and environmental filters to examine the size-plasticity hypothesis at this spatial scale in an urban environment. We observed strong distance-decay of community similarities associated with higher levels of stochastic changes in bacteria, nematode, and protist communities but not fungal or invertebrate communities. Bacterial communities occupied the widest niche followed by protists and nematodes, potentially because of their higher dispersal abilities compared to the larger soil organisms. Null deviation of communities varied with taxonomic groups where bacteria and nematodes were mainly driven by homogenizing dispersal, protists and fungi by drift, and soil invertebrates by environmental selection. We further identified a small percentage of locally-adapted taxa (2.1%) that could be focal taxa for conservation and restoration efforts by, for example, restoring their habitats and enhancing their regional connectivity. These results support the size-plasticity hypothesis at the relatively unexplored regional scale in an urbanization context, and provide new information for improving urban soil health and sustainable city models.https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00185-6 |
| spellingShingle | Alain Isabwe Haifeng Yao Shixiu Zhang Yuji Jiang Martin F. Breed Xin Sun Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis ISME Communications |
| title | Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis |
| title_full | Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis |
| title_fullStr | Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis |
| title_short | Spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size-plasticity hypothesis |
| title_sort | spatial assortment of soil organisms supports the size plasticity hypothesis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00185-6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alainisabwe spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis AT haifengyao spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis AT shixiuzhang spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis AT yujijiang spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis AT martinfbreed spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis AT xinsun spatialassortmentofsoilorganismssupportsthesizeplasticityhypothesis |