Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests

The long-term post-fire recovery phase is a critical stage for forest ecosystems to progress toward regeneration and mature succession. During this process, soil bacteria exhibit greater environmental adaptability, rapidly driving nutrient cycling and facilitating vegetation restoration. This study...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Siyu Jiang, Huijiao Qu, Zhichao Cheng, Xiaoyu Fu, Libin Yang, Jia Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1262
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849425561735135232
author Siyu Jiang
Huijiao Qu
Zhichao Cheng
Xiaoyu Fu
Libin Yang
Jia Zhou
author_facet Siyu Jiang
Huijiao Qu
Zhichao Cheng
Xiaoyu Fu
Libin Yang
Jia Zhou
author_sort Siyu Jiang
collection DOAJ
description The long-term post-fire recovery phase is a critical stage for forest ecosystems to progress toward regeneration and mature succession. During this process, soil bacteria exhibit greater environmental adaptability, rapidly driving nutrient cycling and facilitating vegetation restoration. This study investigated the community structure and diversity of soil bacteria during long-term recovery after forest fires in the cold temperate zone, focusing on soils from the 2000 fires in Daxing’anling. Soil samples were classified into Low (L), Moderate (M), and High (H) fire damage intensity, with bacterial community composition and diversity analyzed using Illumina sequencing technology. After long-term fire recovery, the contents of soil organic carbon, black carbon, total nitrogen, alkaline nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were significantly higher elevated (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and water content was significantly lower, compared with that in the control check (CK) group. Soil urease, fluorescein diacetate, soil acid phosphatase, and soil dehydrogenase activities were significantly higher, and soil sucrase activity was significantly lower in H. There was a significant difference in the Alpha diversity index among the groups. Compared with CK, the Shannon index was significantly increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in L, while both Chao1 and Shannon indices were significantly decreased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in M and significantly higher in H than CK. The results of the PCoA showed that there was a significant difference in the Beta diversity of the bacterial community among the groups (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.60 <i>p</i> = 0.001). The dominant bacteria groups were Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota, while Actinobacteria became the new dominant group during the long-term post-fire recovery. AP, WC, DOC, MBC, S-DHA, and S-SC were significantly and positively correlated with soil bacterial diversity (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The results of the co-occurrence network analysis showed that all groups were dominated by symbiotic relationships, with M having the highest network complexity and strongest competitive effects. This study found that the physicochemical properties of soils recovered over a long period of time after fire returned to or exceeded the unfired forest condition. The Actinobacteria phylum became a new dominant bacterial group, with stronger network complexity and competition, in the process of forest recovery after moderate fire.
format Article
id doaj-art-894a990df7d14c1a9ba34df75280bfc5
institution Kabale University
issn 2076-2607
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Microorganisms
spelling doaj-art-894a990df7d14c1a9ba34df75280bfc52025-08-20T03:29:44ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072025-05-01136126210.3390/microorganisms13061262Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga ForestsSiyu Jiang0Huijiao Qu1Zhichao Cheng2Xiaoyu Fu3Libin Yang4Jia Zhou5School of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biodiversity, Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biodiversity, Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040, ChinaKey Laboratory of Biodiversity, Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology, Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040, ChinaSchool of Geographical Sciences, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, ChinaThe long-term post-fire recovery phase is a critical stage for forest ecosystems to progress toward regeneration and mature succession. During this process, soil bacteria exhibit greater environmental adaptability, rapidly driving nutrient cycling and facilitating vegetation restoration. This study investigated the community structure and diversity of soil bacteria during long-term recovery after forest fires in the cold temperate zone, focusing on soils from the 2000 fires in Daxing’anling. Soil samples were classified into Low (L), Moderate (M), and High (H) fire damage intensity, with bacterial community composition and diversity analyzed using Illumina sequencing technology. After long-term fire recovery, the contents of soil organic carbon, black carbon, total nitrogen, alkaline nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were significantly higher elevated (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and water content was significantly lower, compared with that in the control check (CK) group. Soil urease, fluorescein diacetate, soil acid phosphatase, and soil dehydrogenase activities were significantly higher, and soil sucrase activity was significantly lower in H. There was a significant difference in the Alpha diversity index among the groups. Compared with CK, the Shannon index was significantly increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in L, while both Chao1 and Shannon indices were significantly decreased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in M and significantly higher in H than CK. The results of the PCoA showed that there was a significant difference in the Beta diversity of the bacterial community among the groups (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.60 <i>p</i> = 0.001). The dominant bacteria groups were Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota, while Actinobacteria became the new dominant group during the long-term post-fire recovery. AP, WC, DOC, MBC, S-DHA, and S-SC were significantly and positively correlated with soil bacterial diversity (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The results of the co-occurrence network analysis showed that all groups were dominated by symbiotic relationships, with M having the highest network complexity and strongest competitive effects. This study found that the physicochemical properties of soils recovered over a long period of time after fire returned to or exceeded the unfired forest condition. The Actinobacteria phylum became a new dominant bacterial group, with stronger network complexity and competition, in the process of forest recovery after moderate fire.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1262soil bacteriataiga forestslong-term post-fire recoverydiversitydominant species
spellingShingle Siyu Jiang
Huijiao Qu
Zhichao Cheng
Xiaoyu Fu
Libin Yang
Jia Zhou
Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
Microorganisms
soil bacteria
taiga forests
long-term post-fire recovery
diversity
dominant species
title Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
title_full Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
title_fullStr Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
title_full_unstemmed Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
title_short Actinobacteria Emerge as Novel Dominant Soil Bacterial Taxa in Long-Term Post-Fire Recovery of Taiga Forests
title_sort actinobacteria emerge as novel dominant soil bacterial taxa in long term post fire recovery of taiga forests
topic soil bacteria
taiga forests
long-term post-fire recovery
diversity
dominant species
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/13/6/1262
work_keys_str_mv AT siyujiang actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests
AT huijiaoqu actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests
AT zhichaocheng actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests
AT xiaoyufu actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests
AT libinyang actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests
AT jiazhou actinobacteriaemergeasnoveldominantsoilbacterialtaxainlongtermpostfirerecoveryoftaigaforests