Abstract Detail

Conservation Biology

Dea, Hannah I. [1], Kazarina, Anna [2], Hansen, Paige [3], Ismert, Kyle [1], Platt, Thomas [1], Sikes, Ben [3], Jumpponen, Ari [1].

Prairie restoration impact on Schizachyrium scoparium leaf and root microbial communities.

The conversion of tallgrass prairie to row-crop agriculture has left less than 4% of the North American tallgrass prairie remaining. Restoring prairie plant communities after long periods of agricultural production is challenging as is measuring restoration effectiveness. Evaluating restoration has historically focused on plant communities, but microbial communities are increasingly recognized as essential to maintain remnant prairie diversity and facilitate restoration. Both leaf and root microbiota are important in maintaining plant health and thus to conserve remnant prairies and assess restoration effectiveness, these communities should be of particular focus. To assess restoration, we sampled leaves and roots of the dominant prairie grass, Schizachyrium scoparium, in paired remnant/restored areas at two sites in eastern Kansas in four replicate plots. We extracted DNA from leaves and roots then used Illumina MiSeq to assess bacterial and fungal community richness, diversity, and composition. Root-associated microbial communities, both bacterial and fungal, were significantly different in composition between plants from remnant and restored prairies, however, leaf-associated microbial communities were not significantly different in the bacterial composition and only marginally significantly different in fungal composition. Restoration of the leaf-associated microbial community seems to have been successful but was less clear in root-associated communities. Evaluating multiple aspects of hidden microbial biodiversity can help to improve their use in evaluating the effectiveness of prairie restoration and the restoration of other threatened ecosystems.

1 - Kansas State University, Biology
2 - Kansas State University, Division of Biology, 119 Anderson Hall. 919 Mid-Campus Dr. North., Manhattan, Kansas, 66502, United States
3 - University of Kansas, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Keywords:
restoration
tallgrass prairie
plant microbiome
Microbiome
Bacterial and fungal communities.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P1, Conservation Biology Posters
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Monday, July 19th, 2021
Time: 5:00 PM(EDT)
Number: P1CB016
Abstract ID:993
Candidate for Awards:None