Uncoupling of microbial community structure and function in decomposing litter across beech forest ecosystems in Central Europe

Witoon Purahong, Michael Schloter, Marek J. Pecyna, Danuta Kapturska, Veronika Däumlich, Sanchit Mital, François Buscot, Martin Hofrichter, Jessica L.M. Gutknecht, Dirk Krüger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

The widespread paradigm in ecology that community structure determines function has recently been challenged by the high complexity of microbial communities. Here, we investigate the patterns of and connections between microbial community structure and microbially-mediated ecological function across different forest management practices and temporal changes in leaf litter across beech forest ecosystems in Central Europe. Our results clearly indicate distinct pattern of microbial community structure in response to forest management and time. However, those patterns were not reflected when potential enzymatic activities of microbes were measured. We postulate that in our forest ecosystems, a disconnect between microbial community structure and function may be present due to differences between the drivers of microbial growth and those of microbial function.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7014
JournalScientific Reports
Volume4
DOIs
StatePublished - 12 Nov 2014
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Uncoupling of microbial community structure and function in decomposing litter across beech forest ecosystems in Central Europe'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this