HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Abstract Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (11) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by McCulley, R. L. Articles by Burke, I. C. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by McCulley, R. L. Articles by Burke, I. C. Agricola Articles by McCulley, R. L. Articles by Burke, I. C. Related Collections Soil Microbiology Range Soils Biogeochemical Processes

Microbial Community Composition across the Great Plains

Landscape versus Regional Variability

^a Dep. of Biology, Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708
^b Dep. of Forest Science and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, CO 80524

View larger version (17K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Total phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) (mean ± 1 S.D.) for the five sites across the regional transect averaged over the October 2000 and June 2001 sampling time periods. Significant differences between sites (p < 0.0001) are represented by different letters on the graph.

View larger version (20K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. Total phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) (mean ± 1 S.D.) of uplands and lowlands (location) for the landscape dataset. Analysis of variance results indicated significant differences existed between sites (p = 0.0011, indicated by different letters between sites), but there were no significant differences between locations at any of the sites.

View larger version (27K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. (a) Ordination of the regional dataset (Principal Component Axes 1 and 2—PC 1 and PC 2; n = 6 for SGS due to three samples from the October 2000 sample date being lost during transport and lab processing; for ARI, two samples occupy almost identical locations on the ordination are therefore represented by one point). Microbial community composition differed among grassland community types, with shortgrass steppe sites (SGS and ARI) located in the first and second quadrants, the tallgrass prairie site (KONZA) located in the third and fourth quadrants, and the mixed grass prairie sites (SVR and HAYS) occurring intermediately in the principal component space between the other two community types. (b) Ordination of the landscape dataset (with the same PC 1 and PC 2 as in Fig. 3a since both datasets were analyzed together in one principal component analysis; n = 3 for uplands at HAYS due to sample loss during transport, and n = 3 for lowlands at KONZA because an outlier data point was excluded from this analysis). Different microbial communities were associated with the different grassland community types and occur in the same general principal component space as in Fig. 3a. Uplands and lowlands also exhibit different microbial communities, with uplands generally higher on the PC 2 axis than lowlands for each site.

View larger version (40K): [in a new window]   Fig. 4. Mean percentage of mole fraction (across October 2000 and June 2001 sample dates) of the 19 fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) included in the principal component analysis for the five sites in the regional dataset and their placement into the microbial taxonomic groups (bacterial, actinomycetal, fungal, and protozoan). Different letters represent significant differences between sites (p < 0.05).