Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest
Tropical forests are biodiversity hotspots, but it is not well understood how this diversity is structured and maintained. One hypothesis rests on the generation of a range of metabolic niches, with varied composition, supporting a high species diversity. Characterizing soil metabolomes can reveal f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Metabolites |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/11/11/718 |
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| author | Albert Gargallo-Garriga Jordi Sardans Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei Karel Klem Lucia Fuchslueger Irene Ramírez-Rojas Julian Donald Celine Leroy Leandro Van Langenhove Erik Verbruggen Ivan A. Janssens Otmar Urban Josep Peñuelas |
| author_facet | Albert Gargallo-Garriga Jordi Sardans Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei Karel Klem Lucia Fuchslueger Irene Ramírez-Rojas Julian Donald Celine Leroy Leandro Van Langenhove Erik Verbruggen Ivan A. Janssens Otmar Urban Josep Peñuelas |
| author_sort | Albert Gargallo-Garriga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Tropical forests are biodiversity hotspots, but it is not well understood how this diversity is structured and maintained. One hypothesis rests on the generation of a range of metabolic niches, with varied composition, supporting a high species diversity. Characterizing soil metabolomes can reveal fine-scale differences in composition and potentially help explain variation across these habitats. In particular, little is known about canopy soils, which are unique habitats that are likely to be sources of additional biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests. We studied the effects of diverse tree species and epiphytes on soil metabolomic profiles of forest floor and canopy suspended soils in a French Guianese rainforest. We found that the metabolomic profiles of canopy suspended soils were distinct from those of forest floor soils, differing between epiphyte-associated and non-epiphyte suspended soils, and the metabolomic profiles of suspended soils varied with host tree species, regardless of association with epiphyte. Thus, tree species is a key driver of rainforest suspended soil metabolomics. We found greater abundance of metabolites in suspended soils, particularly in groups associated with plants, such as phenolic compounds, and with metabolic pathways related to amino acids, nucleotides, and energy metabolism, due to the greater relative proportion of tree and epiphyte organic material derived from litter and root exudates, indicating a strong legacy of parent biological material. Our study provides evidence for the role of tree and epiphyte species in canopy soil metabolomic composition and in maintaining the high levels of soil metabolome diversity in this tropical rainforest. It is likely that a wide array of canopy microsite-level environmental conditions, which reflect interactions between trees and epiphytes, increase the microscale diversity in suspended soil metabolomes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:18:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b71e59d7dd4e42e69eb38d318f6af702 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1989 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T05:18:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metabolites |
| spelling | doaj.art-b71e59d7dd4e42e69eb38d318f6af7022023-11-23T00:20:30ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892021-10-01111171810.3390/metabo11110718Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical RainforestAlbert Gargallo-Garriga0Jordi Sardans1Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei2Karel Klem3Lucia Fuchslueger4Irene Ramírez-Rojas5Julian Donald6Celine Leroy7Leandro Van Langenhove8Erik Verbruggen9Ivan A. Janssens10Otmar Urban11Josep Peñuelas12Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Bělidla 986/4a, CZ-60300 Brno, Czech RepublicGlobal Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Bělidla 986/4a, CZ-60300 Brno, Czech RepublicDepartment of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaGlobal Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Bělidla 986/4a, CZ-60300 Brno, Czech RepublicCentre of Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UKAMAP, University Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, 34000 Montpellier, FranceDepartment of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDepartment of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumDepartment of Biology, University of Antwerp, BE-2610 Wilrijk, BelgiumGlobal Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Bělidla 986/4a, CZ-60300 Brno, Czech RepublicGlobal Ecology Unit CREAF-CSIC-UAB, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Bellaterra, 08193 Catalonia, SpainTropical forests are biodiversity hotspots, but it is not well understood how this diversity is structured and maintained. One hypothesis rests on the generation of a range of metabolic niches, with varied composition, supporting a high species diversity. Characterizing soil metabolomes can reveal fine-scale differences in composition and potentially help explain variation across these habitats. In particular, little is known about canopy soils, which are unique habitats that are likely to be sources of additional biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling in tropical forests. We studied the effects of diverse tree species and epiphytes on soil metabolomic profiles of forest floor and canopy suspended soils in a French Guianese rainforest. We found that the metabolomic profiles of canopy suspended soils were distinct from those of forest floor soils, differing between epiphyte-associated and non-epiphyte suspended soils, and the metabolomic profiles of suspended soils varied with host tree species, regardless of association with epiphyte. Thus, tree species is a key driver of rainforest suspended soil metabolomics. We found greater abundance of metabolites in suspended soils, particularly in groups associated with plants, such as phenolic compounds, and with metabolic pathways related to amino acids, nucleotides, and energy metabolism, due to the greater relative proportion of tree and epiphyte organic material derived from litter and root exudates, indicating a strong legacy of parent biological material. Our study provides evidence for the role of tree and epiphyte species in canopy soil metabolomic composition and in maintaining the high levels of soil metabolome diversity in this tropical rainforest. It is likely that a wide array of canopy microsite-level environmental conditions, which reflect interactions between trees and epiphytes, increase the microscale diversity in suspended soil metabolomes.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/11/11/718bacteriacanopy soilsepiphyteFrench Guianametabolomics |
| spellingShingle | Albert Gargallo-Garriga Jordi Sardans Abdulwahed Fahad Alrefaei Karel Klem Lucia Fuchslueger Irene Ramírez-Rojas Julian Donald Celine Leroy Leandro Van Langenhove Erik Verbruggen Ivan A. Janssens Otmar Urban Josep Peñuelas Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest Metabolites bacteria canopy soils epiphyte French Guiana metabolomics |
| title | Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest |
| title_full | Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest |
| title_fullStr | Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest |
| title_short | Tree Species and Epiphyte Taxa Determine the “<i>Metabolomic niche</i>” of Canopy Suspended Soils in a Species-Rich Lowland Tropical Rainforest |
| title_sort | tree species and epiphyte taxa determine the i metabolomic niche i of canopy suspended soils in a species rich lowland tropical rainforest |
| topic | bacteria canopy soils epiphyte French Guiana metabolomics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/11/11/718 |
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