Bamboo invasion of native broadleaf forest modified soil microbial communities and diversity

The effect of plant invasion on soil microbial communities in various ecosystems has increasingly become the focus of research over the last decade. Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) invasion of native forests in Tianmushan National Nature Reserve located in southeastern China has resulted in greatly decreased biodiversity of plants and birds. We combined three different microbial community techniques (Biolog, cellular fatty acids, and 16S-PCR-DGGE) to examine whether changes in the overstory of plant taxa, or any associated environmental changes, modified soil microbial communities. Three types of forests were examined: mono-bamboo forest, mixed forest of bamboo and broadleaf, and native broadleaf forest. The fatty acid and DGGE results showed that bamboo invasion of the native forest influenced soil community structure and increased microbial biomass and taxonomic diversity despite decreased plant diversity. The Biolog results indicated no change in microbial functional diversity as a result of bamboo invasion. Evidence from bacterial PCR-DGGE suggested that bamboo stimulated the growth of otherwise undetected soil bacterial species. Overall, the results indicate that bamboo invasion may significantly affect associated soil microbial communities.