Linking microbial community with nitrogen cycling in forests

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26712015
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Forest science
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Isobe Kazuo 東京大学, 農学生命科学研究科, 助教 (30621833)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 森林土壌 / 窒素循環 / 土壌微生物 / アンモニア生成 / 硝化 / 脱窒

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The nitrogen supply is one of the largest factors for the plant growth and production in many forests. In this project, we attempted to understand the relationship between environmental properties, microbial community dynamics, and nitrogen cycling rate, with the focus on the fact that nitrogen cycling is largely mediated by soil microbes. Then, we found the hierarchical structure between them in which the production rate of ammonium and nitrate, available nitrogen species to plants, are largely regulated by the ammonium and nitrate producing microbial abundances as well as the substrate supply, and the abundances were largely affected by the environmental properties. The findings here can not only enhance our understanding of nitrogen cycling in forests but provide the scientific basis to predict the response of the nitrogen cycling to the environmental change.

Free Research Field

土壌微生物