The role of geographic distance in shaping belowground microbial community composition in a long-term field experiment of soil transplantation

In this study, we report a large-scale soil transplantation experiment, whereby the same two soils (red soil and purple soil) were placed in two geographic locations of ~ 1000 km apart in China: Yingtan and Fengqiu in mid-subtropical and warm temperate regions, respectively. The resulting soil microbial communities were assessed 20 years after the soil transplantation, using the 454 pyrosequencing technique based on the analysis of 16S and 18S ribosomal genes. Results show that both the prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms are primarily grouped by the factor of geographic location rather than soil type, and are closely related to microbial communities in the local soil (i.e., Chao soil in Fengqiu). The data suggest that the historical effects persistent in soil microbial communities can be largely erased by 20 years of contemporary disturbance, including changes of climate conditions, implicating a weak effects of historical contingencies on microbial community composition.