Range-expansion effects on the belowground plant microbiome

TY - JOUR

T1 - Range-expansion effects on the belowground plant microbiome

AU - Ramirez, Kelly S.

AU - Snoek, L. Basten

AU - Koorem, Kadri

AU - Geisen, Stefan

AU - Bloem, L. Janneke

AU - ten Hooven, Freddy

AU - Kostenko, Olga

AU - Krigas, Nikos

AU - Manrubia, Marta

AU - Caković, Danka

AU - van Raaij, Debbie

AU - Tsiafouli, Maria A.

AU - Vreš, Branko

AU - Čelik, Tatjana

AU - Weser, Carolin

AU - Wilschut, Rutger A.

AU - van der Putten, Wim H.

N1 - 6702, TE; Data Archiving: data archived at Publishers and at ENA: under accession numbers PRJEB25697, PRJEB25694, PRJEB25693 and PRJEB25692.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Plant range expansion is occurring at a rapid pace, largely in response to human-induced climate warming. Although the movement of plants along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients is well-documented, effects on belowground microbial communities remain largely unknown. Furthermore, for range expansion, not all plant species are equal: in a new range, the relatedness between range-expanding plant species and native flora can influence plant–microorganism interactions. Here we use a latitudinal gradient spanning 3,000 km across Europe to examine bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere and surrounding soils of range-expanding plant species. We selected range-expanding plants with and without congeneric native species in the new range and, as a control, the congeneric native species, totalling 382 plant individuals collected across Europe. In general, the status of a plant as a range-expanding plant was a weak predictor of the composition of bacterial and fungal communities. However, microbial communities of range-expanding plant species became more similar to each other further from their original range. Range-expanding plants that were unrelated to the native community also experienced a decrease in the ratio of plant pathogens to symbionts, giving weak support to the enemy release hypothesis. Even at a continental scale, the effects of plant range expansion on the belowground microbiome are detectable, although changes to specific taxa remain difficult to decipher.

AB - Plant range expansion is occurring at a rapid pace, largely in response to human-induced climate warming. Although the movement of plants along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients is well-documented, effects on belowground microbial communities remain largely unknown. Furthermore, for range expansion, not all plant species are equal: in a new range, the relatedness between range-expanding plant species and native flora can influence plant–microorganism interactions. Here we use a latitudinal gradient spanning 3,000 km across Europe to examine bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere and surrounding soils of range-expanding plant species. We selected range-expanding plants with and without congeneric native species in the new range and, as a control, the congeneric native species, totalling 382 plant individuals collected across Europe. In general, the status of a plant as a range-expanding plant was a weak predictor of the composition of bacterial and fungal communities. However, microbial communities of range-expanding plant species became more similar to each other further from their original range. Range-expanding plants that were unrelated to the native community also experienced a decrease in the ratio of plant pathogens to symbionts, giving weak support to the enemy release hypothesis. Even at a continental scale, the effects of plant range expansion on the belowground microbiome are detectable, although changes to specific taxa remain difficult to decipher.

KW - international

UR - https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB25694

UR - https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB25693

UR - https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB25692

UR - https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/data/view/PRJEB25697

U2 - 10.1038/s41559-019-0828-z

DO - 10.1038/s41559-019-0828-z

M3 - Article

SN - 2397-334X

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

ER -