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Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes

Large areas of rainforest in Asia have been converted to plantations, with uncertain effects on soil biodiversity. Using standard metagenetic methods, we compared the soil biota of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes at three rainforest sites in Malaysia with two rubber plantation sites with similar soil...

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Main Authors: Kerfahi, Dorsaf, Tripathi, Binu Mani, Dong, Ke, Go, Rusea, Adams, Jonathan M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Verlag 2016
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/1/Rainforest%20conversion%20to%20rubber%20plantation%20may%20not%20result%20in%20lower%20soil%20diversity%20of%20bacteria%2C%20fungi%2C%20and%20nematodes.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-016-0790-0
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spelling my.upm.eprints.537202018-01-10T09:11:58Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/ Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes Kerfahi, Dorsaf Tripathi, Binu Mani Dong, Ke Go, Rusea Adams, Jonathan M. Large areas of rainforest in Asia have been converted to plantations, with uncertain effects on soil biodiversity. Using standard metagenetic methods, we compared the soil biota of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes at three rainforest sites in Malaysia with two rubber plantation sites with similar soils and geology. We predicted the following: (1) that the rubber sites would have a lower α- and β-diversity than the rainforest sites, due to the monospecific canopy cover and intensive management with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, and (2) that due to differences in the physical and biotic environment associated with cultivation, there would be distinct communities of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. However, regarding (1), the results showed no consistent difference in α- and β-diversity of bacteria, fungi, or nematodes between rainforest and rubber plantation sites. It appears that conversion of rainforest to rubber plantations does not necessarily result in a decrease in diversity of soil biota. It may be that heterogeneity associated with the cultivation regimen compensates for loss of biotically imposed heterogeneity of the original rainforest. Regarding (2), as predicted there were statistically significant differences in community composition between rainforest and rubber plantation for bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. These differences could be related to a range of factors including light level, litter fall composition, pH, C and N, selecting a distinct set of soil taxa, and it is possible that this in itself would affect long-term soil function. Springer Verlag 2016-08 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/1/Rainforest%20conversion%20to%20rubber%20plantation%20may%20not%20result%20in%20lower%20soil%20diversity%20of%20bacteria%2C%20fungi%2C%20and%20nematodes.pdf Kerfahi, Dorsaf and Tripathi, Binu Mani and Dong, Ke and Go, Rusea and Adams, Jonathan M. (2016) Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. Microbial Ecology, 72 (2). pp. 359-371. ISSN 0095-3628; ESSN:1432-184X https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-016-0790-0 10.1007/s00248-016-0790-0
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description Large areas of rainforest in Asia have been converted to plantations, with uncertain effects on soil biodiversity. Using standard metagenetic methods, we compared the soil biota of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes at three rainforest sites in Malaysia with two rubber plantation sites with similar soils and geology. We predicted the following: (1) that the rubber sites would have a lower α- and β-diversity than the rainforest sites, due to the monospecific canopy cover and intensive management with herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, and (2) that due to differences in the physical and biotic environment associated with cultivation, there would be distinct communities of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. However, regarding (1), the results showed no consistent difference in α- and β-diversity of bacteria, fungi, or nematodes between rainforest and rubber plantation sites. It appears that conversion of rainforest to rubber plantations does not necessarily result in a decrease in diversity of soil biota. It may be that heterogeneity associated with the cultivation regimen compensates for loss of biotically imposed heterogeneity of the original rainforest. Regarding (2), as predicted there were statistically significant differences in community composition between rainforest and rubber plantation for bacteria, fungi, and nematodes. These differences could be related to a range of factors including light level, litter fall composition, pH, C and N, selecting a distinct set of soil taxa, and it is possible that this in itself would affect long-term soil function.
format Article
author Kerfahi, Dorsaf
Tripathi, Binu Mani
Dong, Ke
Go, Rusea
Adams, Jonathan M.
spellingShingle Kerfahi, Dorsaf
Tripathi, Binu Mani
Dong, Ke
Go, Rusea
Adams, Jonathan M.
Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
author_facet Kerfahi, Dorsaf
Tripathi, Binu Mani
Dong, Ke
Go, Rusea
Adams, Jonathan M.
author_sort Kerfahi, Dorsaf
title Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
title_short Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
title_full Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
title_fullStr Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
title_full_unstemmed Rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
title_sort rainforest conversion to rubber plantation may not result in lower soil diversity of bacteria, fungi, and nematodes
publisher Springer Verlag
publishDate 2016
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/1/Rainforest%20conversion%20to%20rubber%20plantation%20may%20not%20result%20in%20lower%20soil%20diversity%20of%20bacteria%2C%20fungi%2C%20and%20nematodes.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/53720/
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00248-016-0790-0
_version_ 1643835469474037760
score 13.211869

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