title: Structure and function of soil microbial community in artificially planted Sonneratia apetala and S. caseolaris forests at different stand ages in Shenzhen Bay, China.
abstract: The present study examined the relationships between soil characteristics, microbial community structure and function in the forests artificially planted with exotic Sonneratia apetala at stand ages of 1-, 2-, 7-, 10- and 14-years and Sonneratia caseolaris of 1-, 4-, 7-, 10- and 14-years in Futian National Nature Reserve, Shenzhen Bay, China. The 7-years old forests of both Sonneratia species reached peak growth and had the highest content of nitrogen and phosphorus, enzymatic activities, including dehydrogenase, cellulase, phosphatase, urease and ß-glucosidase, except arylsulphatase which increased continuously with stand ages. The microbial community structure reflected by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles also reached the maximum value in the 7-years old forests and soil bacterial PLFAs in both forests were significantly higher than fungal PLFAs. The canonical correlation analysis revealed that differences in microbial structural variables were significantly correlated to the differences in their functional variables, and the highest correlation was found between the soil enzymatic activities and the content of carbon and nitrogen.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Neilingding Futian National Nature Reserve, Shenzhen 518040, China; Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; College of Life Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Shenzhen Wild Animal Rescue Center, Xinzhou Road, Shenzhen 518048, China.
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Wild Animal Rescue Center, Xinzhou Road, Shenzhen 518048, China.
authors.forename: Q J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Zan
authors.affiliation: Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: P K S
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Futian-CityU Mangrove Research and Development Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Biology and Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: bhntam@cityu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: N F Y
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Tam
mesh_terms: D061006:Bays; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D005658:Fungi; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009584:Nitrogen; D010758:Phosphorus; D043982:Rhizophoraceae / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D012987:Soil; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D010758:Phosphorus; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: Enzyme; Phospholipid fatty acid; Soil microbial community; Sonneratia apetala; Sonneratia caseolaris