Experimental assessment of tree canopy and leaf litter controls on the microbiome and nitrogen fixation rates of two boreal mosses

• DOI: 10.1111/nph.16611
• Publication Date: 2020-04-16T21:50:55Z
• Authors: Mélanie Jean; Hannah Holland‐Mo...; April M. Melvin; Jill F. Johnstone; Michelle C. Mack
• Keywords: Litter; Black spruce; Nitrogen Cycle

Nitrogen (N2 )-fixing moss microbial communities play key roles in nitrogen cycling of boreal forests. Forest type and leaf litter inputs regulate abundance, but how they control microbiomes N2 -fixation remains understudied. We examined the impacts forest broadleaf on community composition rates Hylocomium splendens Pleurozium schreberi. conducted a transplant manipulation experiment at three sites with paired paper birch (Betula neoalaskana) black spruce (Picea mariana) stands Alaska. characterized bacterial using marker gene sequencing, determined stable isotopes (15 ) measured environmental covariates. Mosses native to transplanted into supported generally higher distinct compared similar treatments stands. High shifted for both species reduced H. splendens, which had highest rates. was positively associated several taxa, including cyanobacteria. The microbiome conditions controlled stand scales. Predicted shifts from spruce- deciduous-dominated will interact relative abundances mosses supporting different rates, could affect stand-level N inputs.