Abstract
Low soil water content (low matric potential) and salinity (low osmotic potential) occur frequently in soils, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. Although the effect of low matric or low osmotic potential on soil microorganisms have been studied before, this is the first report which compares the effect of the two stresses on microbial activity and community structure. A sand and a sandy loam, differing in pore size distribution, nutrient content and microbial biomass and community structure, were used. For the osmotic stress experiment, salt (NaCl) was added to achieve osmotic potentials from −0.99 to −13.13 MPa (sand) and from −0.21 to 3.41 MPa (sandy loam) after which the soils were pre-incubated at optimal water content for 10d. For the matric stress experiment, soils were also pre-incubated at optimal water content for 10d, after which the water content was adjusted to give matric potentials from −0.03 and −1.68 MPa (sand) and from −0.10 to 1.46 MPa (sandy loam). After amendment with 2% (w/w) pea straw (C/N 26), soil respiration was measured over 14d. Osmotic potential decreased with decreasing soil water content, particularly in the sand. Soil respiration decreased with decreasing water potential (osmotic + matric). At a given water potential, respiration decreased to a greater extent in the matric stress experiment than in the osmotic stress experiment. Decreasing osmotic and matric potential reduced microbial biomass (sum of phospholipid fatty acids measured after 14 days) and changed microbial community structure: fungi were less tolerant to decreasing osmotic potential than bacteria, but more tolerant to decreasing water content. It is concluded that low matric potential may be more detrimental than a corresponding low osmotic potential at optimal soil water content. This is likely to be a consequence of the restricted diffusion of substrates and thus a reduced ability of the microbes to synthesise osmolytes to help maintain cell water content. The study also highlighted that it needs to be considered that decreasing soil water content concentrates the salts, hence microorganisms in dry soils are exposed to two stressors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Askri B, Bouhlila R, Job JO (2010) Development and application of a conceptual hydrologic model to predict soil salinity within modern Tunisian oases. J Hydrol 380:45–61
Beales N (2004) Adaptation of microorganisms to cold temperatures, weak acid preservatives, low pH, and osmotic stress: A review. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 3:1–20
Ben-Hur M, Yolcu G, Uysal H, Lado M, Paz A (2009) Soil structure changes: aggregate size and soil texture effects on hydraulic conductivity under different saline and sodic conditions. Austr J Soil Res 47:688–696
Campbell RB, Bower CA, Richards LA (1948) Change of electrical conductivity with temperature and the relation of osmotic pressure to electrical conductivity and ion concentration for soil extracts. Soil Sci Soc Proc 1948:66–69
Clarke KR, Warwick RM (2001) Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Primer-E, Plymouth
Degrood SH, Claassen VP, Scow KM (2005) Microbial community composition on native and drastically disturbed serpentine soils. Soil Biol Biochem 37:1427–1435
Diaz-Ravina D, Bååth E (1996) Development of metal tolerance in soil bacterial communities exposed to experimentally increased metal levels. Appl Environ Microbiol 62:2970–2977
Fierer N, Schimel JP, Holden PA (2003) Influence of drying-rewetting frequency on soil bacterial community structure. Microb Ecol 45:63–71
Frey SD, Elliott ET, Paustian K (1999) Bacterial and fungal abundance and biomass in conventional and no-tillage agroecosystems along two climatic gradients. Soil Biol Biochem 31:573–585
Frostegård A, Bååth E, Tunlid A (1993) Shifts in the strucutre of soil microbial communities in limed forests as revealed by phospholipid fatty acid analysis. Soil Biol Biochem 25:723–730
Gennari M, Abbate C, La Porta V, Baglieri A (2007) Microbial response to Na2SO4 additions in a volcanic soil. Arid Land Res Manage 21:211–227
Griffiths RI, Whiteley AS, O'Donnell AG, Bailey MJ (2003) Physiological and community response of etstablished grassland bacterial populations to water stress. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:6961–6968
Gros R, Poly F, Jocteur-Monrozier L, Faivre P (2003) Plant and soil microbial community responses to solid waste leachates diffusion on grassland. Plant Soil 255:445–455
Harris R F (1980) Effect of water potential on microbial growth and activity. In Water potential relations in soil microbiology. pp 23-95. Soil Science Society America, Madison
Hillel D (1980) Fundamentals in soil physics. Academic, New York
Ilstedt U, Nordgren A, Malmer A (2000) Optimum soil water for soil respiration before and after amendment with glucose in humid tropical acrisols and a boreal mor layer. Soil Biol Biochem 32:1594–1599
Kandeler E (2007) Physiological and biochemical methods for studying soil biota and their function. In: Paul EA (ed) Soil microbiology, ecology, and biochemistry. Elsevier, pp 53–84
Killham K, Firestone MK (1984) Salt stress control of intracellular solutes in Streptomycetes indigenous to saline soils. Appl Environ Microbiol 47:301–306
Klamer M, Hedlund K (2004) Fungal diversity in set-aside agricultural soil investigated using termial-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Soil Biol Biochem 36:983–988
Klute A (1986) Water retention: laboratory methods. In: Klute A (ed) Methods of soil analysis, Part 1. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, pp 635–660
Lambers H (2003) Dryland salinity: a key environmental issue in southern Australia. Plant Soil 257:v–vii
Laura RD (1974) Effects of neutral salts on carbon and nitrogen mineralization of organic matter in soil. Plant Soil 41:113–127
Llamas DP, Gonzales MD, Gonzales CI, Lopez GR, Marquina JC (2008) Effects of water potential on spore germination and viability of Fusarium species. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 35:1411–1418
Mandeel QA (2006) Biodiversity of the genus Fusarium in saline soil habitats. J Basic Microbiol 46:480–494
McClung G, Frankenberger WT (1987) Nitrogen mineralisation rates in saline vs. salt-amended soils. Plant Soil 104:13–21
McLean MA, Huhta V (2000) Temporal and spatial fluctuations in moisture affect humus microfungal community structure in microcosms. Biol Fertil Soils 32:114–119
Nelson DR, Mele PM (2007) Subtle changes in rhizosphere microbial community structure in response to increased boron and sodium chloride concentrations. Soil Biol Biochem 39:340–351
Norbek KJ, Blomberg A (1998) Amino acid uptake is strongly affected during exponential growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in 0.7 M NaCl medium. FEMS Microbiol Lett 158:121–126
Oren A (1999) Bioenergetic aspects of halophilism. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 63:334–348
Oren A (2001) The bioenergetic basis for the decrease in metabolic diversity at increasing salt concentrations: implication of the functioning of salt lake ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 466:61–72
Pankhurst CE, Yu S, Hawke BG, Harch BD (2001a) Capacity of fatty acid profiles and substrate utilisation patterns to describe differences in soil microbial communities associated with increased salinity or alkalinity at three locations win South Australia. Biol Fertil Soils 33:204–217
Pankhurst CE, Yu S, Hawke BG, Harch BD (2001b) Capacity of fatty acid profiles and substrate utilization patterns to describe differences in soil microbial communities associated with increased salinity or alkalinity at three locations in South Australia. Biol Fertil Soils 33:204–217
Pathak H, Rao DLN (1998) Carbon and nitrogen mineralisation from added organic matter in saline and alkali soils. Soil Biol Biochem 30:695–702
Pettersson M, Baath E (2004) Effects of the properties of the bacterial community on pH adaptation during recolonisation of a humus soil. Soil Biol Biochem 36:1383–1388
Potts M (1994) Dessication tolerance in prokaryotes. Microbiol Rev 58:755–805
Pulleman M, Tietema A (1999) Microbial C and N transformations during drying and rewetting of coniferous forest floor material. Soil Biol Biochem 31:275–285
Reichardt W, Briones A, De Jesus R, Padre B (2001) Microbial population shifts in experimental rice systems. Appl Soil Ecol 17:151–163
Rengasamy P (2006) Soil salinity and sodicity. In Growing crops with reclaimed wastewater. Ed. D Stevens. pp 125 –138. CSIRO
Richards LA (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. Soil Sci 78:7–33
Schimel JP, Balser TC, Wallenstein M (2007) Microbial stress response physiology and its implications for ecosystem function. Ecology 88:1386–1394
Schimel JP, Scott WJ, Killham K (1989) Changes in cytoplasmic carbon and nitrogen pools in a soil bacterium and a fungus in response to salt stress. Appl Environ Microbiol 55:1635–1637
Stark JM, Firestone MK (1995) Mechanisms for soil moisture effects on the activity of nitrifying bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:218–221
Stromberger ME, Shah Z, Westfall DG (2007) Soil microbial communities of no-till dryland agroecosystems across an evapotranspiration gradient. Appl Soil Ecol 35:94–106
Toberman H, Freeman C, Evans CS, Fenner N, Artz REE (2008) Summer drought decreases soil fungal diversity and associated phenol oxidase activity in upland Calluna heathland soil. FEMS Microb Ecol 66:426–436
Tripathi S, Kumari S, Chakraborty A, Gupta A, Chakraborty K, Bandyapadhyay BK (2006) Microbial biomass and its activities in salt-affected coastal soils. Biol Fertil Soils 42:273–277
Van Gestel M, Merckx R, Vlassak K (1993) Microbial biomass responses to soil drying and rewetting: the fate of fast- and slow-growing microorganisms in soils from different climates. Soil Biol Biochem 25:109–123
West NE, Stark JM, Johnson DW, Abrams MM, Wight JR, Heggem D, Peck S (1994) Effects of climatic change on the edaphic features of arid and semiarid lands in of Western North America. Arid Soil Res Rehabil 8:307–351
Wichern J, Wichern F, Joergensen RG (2006a) Impact of salinity on soil microbial communities and the decomposition of maize in acidic soils. Geoderma 137:100–108
Wichern J, Wichern F, Joergensen RG (2006b) Impact of salinity on soil microbial communities and the decomposition of maize in acidic soils. Geoderma 137:100–108
Williams MA (2007) Resonse of microbial communities to water stress in irrigated and drought-prone tallgrass prairie soils. Soil Biol Biochem 39:2750–2757
Wu J, Brookes PC (2005) The proportional mineralisation of microbial biomass and organic matter by air-drying and rewetting of a grassland soil. Soil Biol Biochem 37:507–515
Zak DR, Pregitzer KS, Curtis PS, Holmes WE (2000) Atmospheric CO2 and the composition and function of soil microbial communities. Ecol Appl 10:47–59
Zelles L, Rackwitz R, Bai QY, Beck T, Beese F (1995) Discrimination of microbial diversity by fatty acid profiles of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharides in differently cultivated soils. Plant Soil 170:115–122
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Australian Research Council. Nasrin Chowdhury received an Endeavour Australia postgraduate scholarship.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Timothy Richard Cavagnaro.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chowdhury, N., Marschner, P. & Burns, R. Response of microbial activity and community structure to decreasing soil osmotic and matric potential. Plant Soil 344, 241–254 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0743-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0743-9