title: A pyrosequencing insight into sprawling bacterial diversity and community dynamics in decaying deadwood logs of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies.
abstract: Deadwood is an important biodiversity hotspot in forest ecosystems. While saproxylic insects and wood-inhabiting fungi have been studied extensively, little is known about deadwood-inhabiting bacteria. The study we present is among the first to compare bacterial diversity and community structure of deadwood under field conditions. We therefore compared deadwood logs of two temperate forest tree species Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies using 16S rDNA pyrosequencing to identify changes in bacterial diversity and community structure at different stages of decay in forest plots under different management regimes. Alphaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were the dominant taxonomic groups in both tree species. There were no differences in bacterial OTU richness between deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Picea abies. Bacteria from the order Rhizobiales became more abundant during the intermediate and advanced stages of decay, accounting for up to 25% of the entire bacterial community in such logs. The most dominant OTU was taxonomically assigned to the genus Methylovirgula, which was recently described in a woodblock experiment of Fagus sylvatica. Besides tree species we were able to demonstrate that deadwood physico-chemical properties, in particular remaining mass, relative wood moisture, pH, and C/N ratio serve as drivers of community composition of deadwood-inhabiting bacteria.
authors: 1] Department of Soil Ecology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Halle (Saale), Germany [2] Chair of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors: Björn
authors: B
authors: Hoppe
authors: Department of Soil Ecology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Halle (Saale), Germany.
authors: Krüger
authors: K
authors: Krger
authors: Chair of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors: Tiemo
authors: T
authors: Kahl
authors: Department of Bio- and Environmental Sciences, TU Dresden, International Institute Zittau, Zittau, Germany.
authors: Tobias
authors: T
authors: Arnstadt
authors: 1] Department of Soil Ecology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Halle (Saale), Germany [2] The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors: François
authors: F
authors: Buscot
authors: Chair of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Freiburg i. Brsg., Germany.
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Bauhus
authors: 1] Department of Soil Ecology, UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Halle (Saale), Germany [2] The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors: Tesfaye
authors: T
authors: Wubet
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D044822:Biodiversity; D029964:Fagus; D054892:Metagenome; D064307:Microbiota; D010802:Phylogeny; D028222:Picea; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D014197:Trees; D014934:Wood / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S