Soil Microbial Contribution to Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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SOIL MICROBIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GREENHOUSE GAS EFFLUX FROM A SECONDARY FOREST IN CENTRAL MISSOURI _____________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School University of Missouri-Columbia _____________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________________________ by NIGEL HOILETT Dr. Robert Kremer, Dissertation Supervisor Dr. Keith W. Goyne, Co-Advisor December 2011 The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled SOIL MICROBIAL CONTRIBUTION TO GREENHOUSE GAS EFFLUX FROM A SECONDARY FOREST IN CENTRAL MISSOURI presented by Nigel Hoilett, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Robert J. Kremer, Dissertation Supervisor, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and University of Missouri Professor. Keith W. Goyne, co-advisor, University of Missouri Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Professor Frieda Eivazi, Lincoln University and University of Missouri Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Professor John M. Kabrick, U.S. Forest Service and University of Missouri DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to the people in my life who inspired me to do this Ph.D.: my wife Natalie, my children Aldane, Nahiemah, Kimoy, Nayeli, and Nesean. Thanks for all the love, support and sacrifices. To my mother, Clear Hoilett, I thank her for her unwavering belief in me all these years. Most importantly to GOD the Father and Creator: through him all things are possible. Acknowledgements My gratitude goes out to all who have helped me to achieve this milestone. Unfortunately it would be impossible for me to list or name everyone. I must however acknowledge the following people for their assistance. My main advisor Dr. Robert Kremer has been very patient and supportive over the years. Without his insight, knowledge and wisdom this dissertation would not have been completed. Dr. Eivazi has always been a pillar of support and guidance; her unwavering faith in me as kept me going when at times I was doubtful. I must also thank Dr. Keith Goyne for his guidance and for keeping me focus and my feet on the ground in more ways than one. I also express my gratitude to Dr. Kabrick for serving on my committee and for his guidance on this project. Special thanks to Dr. Nsalambi Nkongolo for supporting me on his project and for his input and technical advice. I must also thank Dr. Ann Kennedy and her technician Jeremy Hansen for their assistance with the PLFA analysis. Noteworthy appreciation to James Ortbals, Mona-Lisa Banks, Grato Ndunguru, Gavin Terrelonge, Chevise Thomas, Jahnell Brown, and Kent Schmidt for their assistance with field sampling and laboratory assistance. For her assistance with qPCR procedure I wish to thank Dr. Burcu Turgay. Thanks also to Dr. James Caldwell and Dr. Mark Ellersieck for assistance with statistical analysis. This study was supported in part by U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture Cooperative Agreement #0211760 awarded to Lincoln University in Missouri. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements…………………………………………………..……………….…ii List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………v List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………viii List of Nomenclature…………………………………………………………………xiii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...……………………………………………………......1 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY……………...………………………………………1 OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………………….....4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………......9 CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS: FIELD AND LABORATORY PROCEDURES………………………………………………………………………....19 CHAPTER 4: RELATIONSHIP OF THREE ENZYMES AND GREENHOUSE GAS EFFLUX FROM A SECONDARY FOREST IN MID-MISSOURI………………………………..….40 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………..40 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..41 MATERIALS AND METHODS…………………………………………………..44 RESULTS……………………………………………………………………….48 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………51 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………..56 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………..58 iii CHAPTER 5: USING PHOSPHOLIPID FATTY ACID PROFILES TO EVALUATE SOIL MICROBIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO GREENHOUSE GAS EFFLUX FROM A SECONDARY FOREST IN MID-MISSOURI……………………………………………………………76 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………..76 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………..77 MATERIALS AND METHODS…………………………………………………..80 RESULTS……………………………………………………………………….85 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………95 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………103 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………105 CHAPTER 6: USING PCR-DGGE TO ASSESS SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATED WITH GREENHOUSE GAS EXCHANGE IN A FOREST ECOSYSTEM……....................................................................................................124 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………124 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….126 MATERIALS AND METHODS………………………………………………....131 RESULTS……………………………………………………………………...135 DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………..139 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………144 REFERENCES…...…………………………………………………………….146 CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY…………….……………………………………………....158 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………161 VITA………………………………………………………………………………….168 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Some soil characteristics (0 – 20 cm) for each landscape sampling position at Busby Farms. Textural Class (SiL silt loam, CL clay loam), total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Clay, silt, and sand measured as percentage of total soil ……………………………..…………………………………25 Table 3.2 Two by two factorial design for incubation study.......………………………..26 Table 3.3 Incubation moisture conditions for soils from each landscape sampling position during each sampling period. Soils were incubated at either 60% water-holding capacity (60% WHC) or the field moisture (FM) content at the time of sampling. Sampling was performed three times over a one year period July 2008 (JSP), November 2008 (NSP) and May 2009 (MSP)………………….……………………………………….………...26 Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics for total organic carbon (mg g-1 soil), total nitrogen (mg g- 1 -1 -1 soil), β-glucosidase (µg pNP g soil), arylamidase (µg β-Naphthyamine g soil), -1 -2 -1 -2 -1 dehydrogenase (µg INTF g soil), N2O (µg N2O-N m hr ), CO2 (mg CO2-C m h ) -2 -1 0 and CH4 (µg CH4-C m hr ) during 30 d incubation. Samples were incubated at 25 C and 350C, 150C, or 20C for July 2008 (JSP), November 2008 (NSP), and May 2009 (MSP) respectively……………………………………………………………………….70 Table 4.2 ANOVA results for total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), β- glucosidase (BG), amino acid aryl-amidase (AA), dehydrogenase (DH), and greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) based on landscape sampling position (S), temperature (T), moisture (M), and incubation time (D). Statistical significance: *P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ns, not significant……….…...71 – 72 Table 4.3 Correlation coefficience (r values) of enzyme activities, TOC and TN during 30 d incubation of soils collected in three sampling periods July 2008 (JSP), November 2008 (NSP), and May 2009 (MSP)…………………..………………………….……………..73 Table 4.4 Correlation coefficience (r values)of enzyme activities and greenhouse gases during 30 d incubation of soils collected in three sampling periods July 2008 (JSP), November 2008 (NSP), and May 2009 (MSP)………………………………………......74 Table 4.5 Simple correlations (r values) among some soil properties and greenhouse gases during 30 d incubation of soils collected in three sampling periods July 2008 (JSP), November 2008 (NSP), and May 2009 (MSP)……………………………..……………75 v Table 5.1 Pearson correlations among GHG (CO2, N2O, CH4) and PLFA soil microbial group biomarkers after 30 d incubations of forest soils over three sampling periods (July and November 2008; May 2009), across five landscape sampling positions (summit, shoulder, backslope, footslope, and drainage) and incubated at two temperatures (July 25 and 35°C; November 25 and 15°C; May 25 and 20°C) and two moistures (field moisture and 60% water-holding capacity). For each data set the number is the correlation coefficient and significance is identified by the asterisks. PLFA soil microbial group biomarkers included total fungi (fun), mycorrhizae fungi (Myc), bacteria to fungi ratio (B/F), Gram positive (Gpos), Gram negative (Gneg), aerobic (Aer), anaerobic (Ana) bacteria, stress indicators (Mono/Sat), monounsaturated (Mono) lipids………...……..109 Table 5.2 Pearson correlations among GHG (CO2, N2O, CH4) and PLFA chain length after 30 day incubations of forest soils over three sampling periods (July and November 2008; May 2009), across five landscape sampling positions (summit, shoulder, backslope, footslope, and drainage) and incubated at two temperatures (July 25 and 35°C; November 25 and 15°C; May 25 and 20°C) and two moistures (field moisture and 60% water holding capacity). For each data set the number is the correlation coefficient and significance is identified by the asterisks……………………….……............................110 Table 5.3 ANOVA results showing p values for GHG (CO2, N2O, CH4) and PLFA soil microbial group biomarkers after 30 d incubations of forest soils sampled over three sampling periods (July and November 2008; May 2009), across five landscape sampling positions (summit, shoulder, backslope,