Steering the soil microbiome by repeated litter addition

1. Microbial communities drive plant litter breakdown. Litters originating from different plant species are often associated with specialized microbiomes that accelerate the breakdown of that litter, known as home-field advantage. Yet, how and how fast microbial communities specialize towards litter inputs is not known. 2. Here we study effects of repeated litter additions on soil microbial community structure and functioning. We set up a nine-month, full-factorial, reciprocal litter transplant experiment with soils and litters from six plant species (three grasses, three trees). We measured fungal and bacterial community composition, litter mass loss and home-field effects. 3. We found that repeated litter additions resulted in convergence in fungal community composition driven by litter functional group (trees versus grasses). Grasses enriched Sordariomycetes, while Tremellomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, and Leotiomycetes were favored by tree litter. Bacterial community composition, litter ...1. 微生物群落驱动植物残体分解。不同植物物种产生的凋落物通常与加速该类凋落物分解的特异微生物组相关联，这一现象被称为原位优势效应（home-field advantage）。然而，目前尚不清楚微生物群落如何、以多快的速度特化以适配凋落物输入。 2. 本研究探讨重复凋落物输入对土壤微生物群落结构与功能的影响。我们开展了一项为期9个月的全因子相互凋落物移植实验，实验所用土壤与凋落物均采自6种植物（3种草本植物、3种木本植物）。我们测定了真菌与细菌群落组成、凋落物质量损失以及原位优势效应。 3. 研究发现，重复凋落物输入导致真菌群落组成朝着凋落物功能类群（木本植物vs草本植物）的方向趋同。草本植物凋落物富集粪壳菌纲（Sordariomycetes），而木本植物凋落物则更利于银耳纲（Tremellomycetes）、散囊菌纲（Eurotiomycetes）以及锤舌菌纲（Leotiomycetes）的定殖。细菌群落组成、凋落物……