ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1211-2355
Current Organisation
Western Sydney University
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Microbial ecology | Ecosystem function | Microbiology | Ecosystem Function | Ecological Applications | Conservation and Biodiversity | Soil biology
Climate Change Adaptation Measures | Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Land Management |
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-01-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16096
Abstract: Unraveling the biogeographic pattern of soil fungal decomposers along temperature gradients-in smooth linearity or an abrupt jump-can help us connect the global carbon cycle to global warming. Through a standardized global field survey, we identify the existence of temperature thresholds that control the global distribution of soil fungal decomposers, leading to abrupt reductions in their proportion (i.e., the relative abundance in the fungal community) immediately after crossing particular air and soil temperature thresholds. For ex le, small increases over the mean annual temperature threshold of ~9°C result in abrupt reductions in their proportion, paralleling a similar temperature threshold for soil carbon content. We further find that the proportion of soil fungal decomposers is more sensitive to temperature increases under arid conditions. Given the positive correlation between the global distributions of fungal decomposers and soil heterotrophic respiration, the reported temperature-driven abrupt reductions in fungal decomposers could further suppress their driven soil decomposition processes and reduce carbon fluxes from soils to the atmosphere with implications for climate change feedback. This work not only advances the current knowledge on the global distribution of soil fungal decomposers, but also highlights that small changes in temperature around certain thresholds can lead to potential unexpected consequences in global carbon cycling under projected climate change.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-05-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-10-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PPP3.10448
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2023
DOI: 10.1002/SAE2.12043
Abstract: Plant microbiomes contribute directly to plant health and productivity, but mechanisms that underpin plant microbiome assembly in different compartments (e.g., root, leaf) are not fully understood. Identifying environmental and management factors that affect plant microbiome assembly is important to advance understanding of fundamental ecological processes, and to harness microbiome for improved primary productivity and environmental sustainability. Irrigation and fertilization are two common management practices in Australian tree plantations, but little is known about the effects of these treatments on soil, plant host and their microbiome. Here, we investigated the impact of decade‐long irrigation, fertilization and their combined application on soil, plant traits and microbiome of a Eucalyptus saligna plantation. Microbial profiling of bulk soil, rhizosphere, root and leaves was performed using licon sequencing 16S ribosomal DNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) markers for bacteria and fungi, respectively, along with measurements of soil properties and plant traits. The results indicated that both management practices significantly affected soil properties and soil and root microbiomes. Irrigation increased but fertilizer treatment reduced microbial alpha ersity. However, neither irrigation nor fertilizer treatment impacted the leaf microbiome. Our findings suggest that management practices impact soil edaphic factors, which in turn influence the below‐ground microbiome (soil and root), but the leaf microbiome remains unaffected. In addition, the leaf microbiome was distinct from soil and root microbiomes, and a source tracker analysis suggested that root and bulk soils only contributed to 53% and 10% operational taxonomic units of the leaf bacterial community, suggesting strong and sequential host selection of the leaf microbiome. In addition, management practices had a limited impact on leaf traits and, consequently, the leaf microbiome maintained its distinct composition. These findings provide mechanistic evidence for ecological processes that drive plant microbiome assembly and indicate that host selection plays a more important role than management practices in the leaf microbiome assembly.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-09-2023
DOI: 10.1002/SAE2.12069
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-06-2023
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.17036
Abstract: Fire is a major evolutionary and ecological driver that shapes bio ersity in forests. While above‐ground community responses to fire have been well‐documented, those below‐ground are much less understood. However, below‐ground communities, including fungi, play key roles in forests and facilitate the recovery of other organisms after fire. Here, we used internal transcribed spacer (ITS) meta‐barcoding data from forests with three different times since fire [short (3 years), medium (13–19 years) and long ( years)] to characterize the temporal responses of soil fungal communities across functional groups, ectomycorrhizal exploration strategies and inter‐guild associations. Our findings indicate that fire effects on fungal communities are strongest in the short to medium term, with clear distinctions between communities in forests with a short time (3 years) since fire, a medium time (13–19 years) and a long time ( years) since fire. Ectomycorrhizal fungi were disproportionately impacted by fire relative to saprotrophs, but the direction of the response varied depending on morphological structures and exploration strategies. For instance, short‐distance ectomycorrhizal fungi increased with recent fire, while medium‐distance (fringe) ectomycorrhizal fungi decreased. Further, we detected strong, negative inter‐guild associations between ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi but only at medium and long times since fire. Given the functional significance of fungi, the temporal changes in fungal composition, inter‐guild associations and functional groups after fire demonstrated in our study may have functional implications that require adaptive management to curtail.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-07-2023
DOI: 10.1111/MEC.17068
Abstract: Fire has shaped global ecosystems for millennia by directly killing organisms and indirectly altering habitats and resources. All terrestrial ecosystems, including fire‐prone ecosystems, rely on soil‐inhabiting fungi, where they play vital roles in ecological processes. Yet our understanding of how fire regimes influence soil fungi remains limited and our knowledge of these interactions in semiarid landscapes is virtually absent. We collected soil s les and vegetation measurements from sites across a gradient in time‐since‐fire ages (0–75 years‐since‐fire) and fire frequency (burnt 0–5 times during the recent 29‐year period) in a semiarid heathland of south‐eastern Australia. We characterized fungal communities using ITS licon‐sequencing and assigned fungi taxonomically to trophic guilds. We used structural equation models to examine direct, indirect and total effects of time‐since‐fire and fire frequency on total fungal, ectomycorrhizal, saprotrophic and pathogenic richness. We used multivariate analyses to investigate how total fungal, ectomycorrhizal, saprotrophic and pathogenic species composition differed between post‐fire successional stages and fire frequency classes. Time‐since‐fire was an important driver of saprotrophic richness directly, saprotrophic richness increased with time‐since‐fire, and indirectly, saprotrophic richness declined with time‐since‐fire (resulting in a positive total effect), mediated through the impact of fire on substrates. Frequently burnt sites had lower numbers of saprotrophic and pathogenic species. Post‐fire successional stages and fire frequency classes were characterized by distinct fungal communities, with large differences in ectomycorrhizal species composition. Understanding the complex responses of fungal communities to fire can be improved by exploring how the effects of fire flow through ecosystems. Diverse fire histories may be important for maintaining the functional ersity of fungi in semiarid regions.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-06-2023
DOI: 10.1002/SAE2.12057
Abstract: Despite their potential benefits, it is not well understood how the application of biostimulants influences soil biological properties and their microbial communities in field conditions. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impacts of biostimulants on soil biological and physicochemical properties relevant to soil health. To achieve this, we conducted a field study to investigate the effects of two types of commercially available biostimulants, Universal Natural Plant food (UNP) and Converte Seed Primer (CSP), on microbial activity, bacterial and fungal abundance, community structure and ersity, and soil chemical and physical properties across two depths (0–10 and 10–20 cm) from five sites under either wheat or pasture cultivation. Our findings suggest that application of UNP stimulated microbial activity by 40.1% in surface (0–10 cm) and 36.4% in deeper (10–20 cm) soil, but was dependant on site. Effects were generally greater in grasslands compared with arable soils. At sites where UNP stimulated microbial respiration, substrate‐induced respiration was also stimulated in surface soils and was associated with increased soil moisture content and higher total carbon and nitrogen. At the one site where UNP was combined with CSP, soil enzymes associated with carbon and nitrogen cycling were stimulated in UNP and UNP + CSP treatments. Total bacterial and fungal abundance and their alpha ersity did not respond to biostimulant treatment. However, microbial indicator communities were identified that responded positively to UNP and CSP addition across the two depths. Bacterial indicator species included Elsterales, Propionibacteriales, Solibacterales, Candatus, Reyranellales and Sphingomonadales , but differed between depths. For the fungal indicator species Filobasidiales (Basidiomycota) and Pleosporales (Ascomycota) were strong responders and common across both depths. Overall, our results suggest some positive effects of biostimulants on soil biological and physicochemical properties. Further long‐term studies should be conducted to evaluate the effects of biostimulants on crop yield and farm resilience.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-05-2022
DOI: 10.1002/SAE2.12017
Abstract: Harnessing synthetic communities (SynCom) of plant growth‐promoting (PGP) microorganisms is considered a promising approach to improve crop fitness and productivity. However, biotic mechanisms that underpin improved plant performance and the effects of delivery mode of synthetic community are poorly understood. These are critical knowledge gaps that constrain field efficacy of SynCom and hence large‐scale adoption by the farming community. In this study, a SynCom of four PGP microbial species was constructed and applied to either as seed dressing (treatment T1, applied at the time of sowing) or to soil (treatment T2, applied in soil at true leaf stage) across five different cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum ) cultivars. The impact of SynCom on plant growth, rhizosphere microbiome and soil nutrient availability, and how this was modified by plant variety and mode of applications, was assessed. Results showed that the seed application of SynCom had the strongest positive impact on overall plant fitness, resulting in higher germination (14.3%), increased plant height (7.4%) and shoot biomass (5.4%). A significant increase in the number of flowers (10.4%) and yield (8.5%) was also observed in T1. The soil nitrate availability was enhanced by 28% and 55% under T1 and T2, respectively. Results further suggested that SynCom applications triggered enrichment of members from bacterial phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Cyanobacteria in the rhizosphere. A shift in fungal communities was also observed, with a significant increase in the relative abundance of fungi from phyla Chytridiomycota and Basidiomycota in SynCom treatments. A structural equation model suggested that SynCom directly increased crop productivity but also indirectly via impacting the alpha ersity of bacteria. Overall, this study provides mechanistic evidence that SynCom applications can shift rhizosphere microbial communities and improve soil fertility, plant growth, and crop productivity, suggesting that their use could contribute toward sustainable increase in farm productivity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.13607
Abstract: Fungi are major drivers of ecosystem functioning. Increases in aridity are known to negatively impact fungal community composition in dryland ecosystems globally yet, much less is known on the potential influence of other environmental drivers, and whether these relationships are linear or nonlinear. 2017–2021. Global. Fungi. We re‐analysed multiple datasets from different dryland biogeographical regions, for a total of 912 s les and 1,483 taxa. We examined geographical patterns in community ersity and composition, and spatial, edaphic and climatic factors driving them. UV index, climate seasonality, and sand content were the most important environmental predictors of community shifts, showing the strongest association with the richness of putative plant pathogens and saprobes. Important nonlinear relationships existed with each of these fungal guilds, with increases in UV and temperature seasonality above 7.5 and 900 SD (standard deviation x 100 of the mean monthly temperature), respectively, being associated with an increased probability of plant pathogen and unspecified saprotroph occurrence. Conversely, these environmental parameters had a negative relationship with litter and soil saprotroph richness. Consequently, these ecological groups might be particularly sensitive to shifts in UV radiation and climate seasonality, which is likely to disturb current plant–soil dynamics in drylands. Our synthesis integrates fungal community data from drylands across the globe, allowing the investigation of fungal distribution and providing the first evidence of shifts in fungal ersity and composition of key fungal ecological groups along erse spatial, climatic and edaphic gradients in these widely distributed ecosystems. Our findings imply that shifts in soil structure and seasonal climatic patterns induced by global change will have disproportionate consequences for the distribution of fungal groups linked to vegetation and biogeochemical cycling in drylands, with implications for plant–soil interactions in drylands.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-05-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-05-2022
Abstract: Fire is one of the predominant drivers of the structural and functional dynamics of forest ecosystems. In recent years, novel fire regimes have posed a major challenge to the management of pyro erse forests. While previous research efforts have focused on quantifying the impacts of fire on above‐ground forest bio ersity, how microbial communities respond to fire is less understood, despite their functional significance. Here, we describe the effects of time since fire, fire frequency and their interaction on soil and leaf litter fungal and bacterial communities from the pyro erse, Eucalyptus pilularis forests of south‐eastern Australia. Using structural equation models, we also elucidate how fire can influence these communities both directly and indirectly through biotic–abiotic interactions. Our results demonstrate that fire is a key driver of litter and soil bacterial and fungal communities, with effects most pronounced for soil fungal communities. Notably, recently burnt forest hosted lower abundances of symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi and Acidobacteria in the soil, and basidiomycetous fungi and Actinobacteriota in the litter. Compared with low fire frequencies, high fire frequency increased soil fungal plant pathogens, but reduced Actinobacteriota. The majority of fire effects on microbial communities were mediated by fire‐induced changes in litter and soil abiotic properties. For instance, recent and more frequent fire was associated with reduced soil sulphur, which led to an increase in soil fungal plant pathogens and saprotrophic fungi in these sites. Pathogenic fungi also increased in recently burnt forests that had a low fire frequency, mediated by a decline in litter carbon and an increase in soil pH in these sites. Synthesis . Our findings indicate that predicted increases in the frequency of fire may select for specific microbial communities directly and indirectly through ecological interactions, which may have functional implications for plants (increase in pathogens, decrease in symbionts), decomposition rates (declines in Actinobacteriota and Acidobacteriota) and carbon storage (decrease in ectomycorrhizal fungi). In the face of predicted shifts in wildfire regimes, which may exacerbate fire‐induced changes in microbial communities, adaptive fire management and monitoring is required to address the potential functional implications of fire‐altered microbial communities.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-10-2022
Abstract: Understanding the relative importance of soil microbial ersity, plants and nutrient management is crucial to implement an effective bioremediation approach to xenobiotics‐contaminated soils. To date, knowledge on the interactive effects of soil microbiome, plant and nutrient supply on influencing biodegradation potential of soils remains limited. In this study, we evaluated the in idual and interactive effects of soil initial bacterial ersity, nutrient amendments (organic and inorganic) and plant presence on the biodegradation rate of pyrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Initial bacterial ersity had a strong positive impact on soil biodegradation potential, with soil harbouring higher bacterial ersity showing ~ 2 times higher degradation rates than soils with lower bacterial ersity. Both organic and inorganic nutrient amendments consistently improved the degradation rate in lower ersity soils and had negative (inorganic) to neutral (organic) effect in higher ersity soils. Interestingly, plant presence/type did not show any significant effect on the degradation rate in most of the treatments. Structural equation modelling demonstrated that initial bacterial ersity had a prominent role in driving pyrene biodegradation rates. We provide novel evidence that suggests that soil initial microbial ersity, and nutrient amendments should be explicitly considered in the design and employment of bioremediation management strategies for restoring natural habitats disturbed by organic pollutants.
Start Date: 2023
End Date: 12-2025
Amount: $585,492.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2021
End Date: 12-2024
Amount: $438,428.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity