Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Background and aims</jats:title> <jats:p>Mercury (Hg) contamination poses severe human and environmental health risks. We aimed to evaluate the colonization of Hg-contaminated sites by native plants and the prokaryotic composition of rhizosphere soil communities of the dominant plant species.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>A field study was conducted at a Hg-contaminated site in Romania. Metal concentrations in soil and plant samples were analyzed using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The prokaryotic composition of rhizosphere soil communities was determined through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and community functionality was predicted through PICRUSt2.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Site-specific trace metal distribution across the site drove plant species distribution in the highly contaminated soil, with <jats:italic>Lotus tenuis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Diplotaxis muralis</jats:italic> associated with higher Hg concentrations. In addition, for the bacterial communities in the rhizosphere soil of <jats:italic>D. muralis</jats:italic>, there was no observable decrease in alpha diversity with increasing soil Hg levels. Notably, Actinomycetota had an average of 24% relative abundance in the rhizosphere communities that also tested positive for the presence of <jats:italic>merA</jats:italic>, whereas in the absence of <jats:italic>merA</jats:italic> the phylum’s relative abundance was approximately 2%. <jats:italic>merA</jats:italic> positive rhizosphere communities also displayed an inferred increase in ABC transporters.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p>The results suggest a dependence of species-wise plant survival on local trace metal levels in soil, as well as an intricate interplay of the latter with rhizosphere bacterial diversity. Knowledge of these interdependencies could have implications for phytoremediation stakeholders, as it may allow for the selection of plant species and appropriate soil microbial inoculates with elevated Hg tolerance.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Background and aims</jats:title> <jats:p>Both drought and vegetation restoration can have dramatic effects on plant community composition, but how they influence soil microbial community diversity, structure, and co-occurrence networks remain less well known.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>To better understand the regulatory mechanisms of drought and vegetation restoration on soil microorganisms, we planted 12 native species in precipitation manipulation experimental plots in an invaded coastal grassland in California, USA. We measured soil bacterial and fungal community composition by amplicon sequencing, and quantified plant species richness and coverage in the third experimental year.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Our results showed that drought significantly altered soil bacterial diversity and composition; however, neither drought nor vegetation restoration had significant effects on fungal diversity and composition. The control plots had the most cooperative interactions (greatest number of correlations) among bacterial and/or fungal species, while drought plots yielded the most complex co-occurrence network with the highest modularity and clustering coefficient. Structural equation modeling revealed that plant species richness, net gains, and soil moisture played dominant roles in shaping bacterial community structure. Drought and bacterial community structure directly affected fungal community structure. Plant dominant species cover, common species cover, and bacterial diversity were the key drivers in regulating the microbial co-occurrence network complex.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>We conclude that soil bacterial and fungal communities differ in their responses to abiotic and biotic environmental changes, which may weaken the interspecies interactions among soil microorganisms.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Background and Aims</jats:title> <jats:p>Species diversity is expected to increase with environmental heterogeneity. For plant communities, this pattern has been confirmed by numerous observational studies. Yet, experimental studies yield inconsistent results potentially because of how experiments create soil heterogeneity or because seeds were sown homogeneously. Using a field experiment, we tested how soil heterogeneity, plant spatial aggregation via seed arrival, and grain size influence plant species richness in a restored grassland.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>We manipulated soil heterogeneity and seed arrival in 0.2 × 0.2 or 0.4 × 04 m patches within each 4.0 × 4.6 m plot and allowed community assembly to occur for 4 growing seasons.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Despite quantifiable soil differences, soil heterogeneity did not impact total or sown species richness, but did weakly influence non-sown richness. Richness differences were driven by non-sown plant species that likely exhibited higher establishment in aggregated plots due to decreased interspecific competition and conspecific facilitation.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>Our results suggest that fine-scale soil heterogeneity weakly affects prairie plant diversity, but heterogeneous plant spatial structure can have a stronger effect on diversity. These results suggest that plant colonization may be the primary source of environmental heterogeneity and may explain inconsistent results from soil heterogeneity experiments.</jats:p> </jats:sec>