PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 23: Soil Ecology
Wednesday, August 10, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Influence of repeated prescribed burning on soil fungal communities and soil chemistry in an Australian eucalypt forest.
Bastias, Brigitte*,1, Huang, Zhiqun2, Xu, Zhihong2, Blumfield, Tim 2, Anderson, Ian3, Cairney, John1, Bruns, Tom 4, 1 Centre for Horticulture and Plant Sciences, Penrith South, NSW, Australia2 Centre for Forestry and Horticultural Research, Nathan, QLD, Australia3 The Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen, United Kingdom4 University of California, Berkely, CA
ABSTRACT- A prescribed burning experiment has been maintained at Peachester State Forest, Queensland, Australia since 1972, and comprises unburnt, biennial burning and quadrennial burning treatments, each replicated as three blocks. We have investigated the influence of the burning treatments on soil fungal communities by direct extraction of DNA from soil, polymerase chain reaction amplification of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region and analysis by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP). DGGE profiles of ITS1 sequences suggest that fungal communities in the upper 10 cm of the soil profile of the quadrennial burning and unburnt treatments are more similar to each other than to the biennial burning treatment. Results from buried sand in-growth bags suggest a similar general pattern for fungi that were active during a 7 month period. ITS1 DGGE profiles of DNA extracted from the 10-20 cm section of the soil profile or sand in-growth bags buried in this section showed no obvious grouping by treatment. Analysis of soil carbon and nitrogen by mass spectrometry and anaerobic incubation indicates that availability of both elements is significantly reduced in the biennial burning treatment. These results will be discussed in relation to prescribed burning and soil health.
Key words: fungi, soil, burning, DGGE