Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2014, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6): 608-618.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1258.2014.00056

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Functional diversity of soil microorganisms in Casuarina equisetifolia woodlands of different stand ages in Hainan Island

LI Xiao-Rong,WEI Jin-Yu,CHEN Yun,CAO Ting-Ting,FENG Li,GU Mei-Zi,LI Lei()   

  1. College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, Haikou 571158, China
  • Received:2013-12-04 Accepted:2014-02-11 Online:2014-12-04 Published:2014-06-10
  • Contact: LI Lei

Abstract:

Aims Soil microbes play a key role in matter recycling and accumulation of allelochemicals. We studied the functional diversity of microbial communities in order to illustrate variations in soil microbial community diversity among different Casuarina equisetifolia woodlands.
Methods Young, middle-aged, and mature forest of C. equisetifolia woodlands in the Haikou Guilinyang littoral zone were chosen as subjects of the study. Soil microbial functional diversity in those stands was determined by using Biolog micro-plate technique.
Important findings The soil microbial carbon utilization was higher in bare land and the mature forest than the middle-aged and young forest. With increasing stand age, the values of Shannon-Wiener index (H') and McIntosh and Simpson diversity indices all increased. The H' significantly differed among different woodlands. However, there were no significant differences in the McIntosh and Simpson diversity indices between the young and middle-aged forest. Principal component analysis demonstrated that there was a significant difference in the soil microbial metabolic activities among different woodlands, in particular concerning monosaccharides and amino acids. The soil microbial community diversity increased with increasing stand age, which might be due to a joint action among many factors such as litter, the secondary metabolites of plant root secretion, soil nutrients, and specific soil microorganisms.

Key words: Biolog-ECO, Casuarina equisetifolia, functional diversity, soil microorganisms