soil metagenome Genome sequencing. soil metagenome

Latitudinal and elevational diversity gradients are the fundamental concepts and hot topic in ecology and biogeography. As noted previously, plant and animal communities are most diverse at the lower portion of mountains with diversity typically decreasing at upper elevations. Although elevational patterns of diversity for plants and animals are well established, we know very little about how microbial diversity varies across elevational gradients. This is a serious gap in our general understanding of biodiversity, given that microbes are abundant and diverse, and play a central role in ecosystem functioning. The specific aims of this project are: (1) to explore the elevational patterns of soil microbial community in selected mid subtropical forests in southeastern China; (2) to elucidate whether the biogeographic patterns of soil microbial community are similar to that of plant community; (3) to reveal what environmental factors structure the elevational patterns of both communities.

纬度和海拔多样性梯度是生态学与生物地理学领域的核心概念与研究热点。如既往研究所述，山地植物与动物群落的多样性在海拔较低处达到峰值，通常随海拔升高而逐渐降低。尽管植物与动物多样性的海拔分布格局已得到充分阐释，但学界对微生物多样性沿海拔梯度的变化规律却知之甚少。鉴于微生物数量庞大、种类繁多且在生态系统功能中发挥核心作用，这一认知空白严重制约了我们对生物多样性的整体理解。本项目的具体研究目标如下：(1) 探究中国东南部选定中亚热带森林土壤微生物群落的海拔分布格局；(2) 阐明土壤微生物群落的生物地理格局是否与植物群落相似；(3) 揭示塑造两类群落海拔分布格局的关键环境因子。