Conference talk
J. Finck, D. N. Lange, B. Quesada, B. Takeshi, F. D. Andreote, G. Gleixner
FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY, 2025
FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY, 2025
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Cite
APA
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Finck, J., Lange, D. N., Quesada, B., Takeshi, B., Andreote, F. D., & Gleixner, G. (2025). From the pan into the fire: How seasonal drought reduces microbial diversity and functional potential in the Amazon rainforest. FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY.
Chicago/Turabian
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Finck, J., D. N. Lange, B. Quesada, B. Takeshi, F. D. Andreote, and G. Gleixner. “From the Pan into the Fire: How Seasonal Drought Reduces Microbial Diversity and Functional Potential in the Amazon Rainforest.” FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY, 2025.
MLA
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Finck, J., et al. From the Pan into the Fire: How Seasonal Drought Reduces Microbial Diversity and Functional Potential in the Amazon Rainforest. FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY, 2025.
BibTeX Click to copy
@conference{j2025a,
title = {From the pan into the fire: How seasonal drought reduces microbial diversity and functional potential in the Amazon rainforest.},
year = {2025},
publisher = {FEMS MICRO, Milano, ITALY},
author = {Finck, J. and Lange, D. N. and Quesada, B. and Takeshi, B. and Andreote, F. D. and Gleixner, G.},
howpublished = {Conference talk}
}
Abstract
Tropical rainforests such as the Amazon are of high importance as a global carbon sink.
Due to its well-known nutrient limitation, the Amazon rainforest relies heavily on rapid
microbial decomposition of biomass to release freshly available nutrients for plant
growth. Despite the fundamental importance of decomposers for this ecosystem, little
is known about the biodiversity of tropical soil microbiomes, their functional activity, and
spatial and seasonal variability. We used amplicon rRNA sequencing and shotgun
metagenomic sequencing to investigate differences between microbial communities of
the Amazon’s terra firme forests and much drier white-sand ecosystems during the dry
and wet seasons of 2022 and the 2023 El Nino year. Using both sequencing datasets, we
used Picrust2 and Maaslin3 to study season and site-specific shifts in the functional
potential of microbiota, with focus on organic matter cycling. Bacterial communities
differed significantly between seasons, displaying lower diversity in response to seasonal
drought. In contrast, fungal diversity measures differed strongly between sites but were
less affected by seasonal variation in the first year, indicating that drought was buffered
more efficiently. However, this was not the case in the subsequent El Nino year,
in which microbial diversity did not recover during the 2023 wet season and dropped
below 2022 wet season levels during El Nino. Fungal and bacterial communities
alike also featured lower abundance of taxa involved in organic matter decomposition
following seasonal drought. These changes were also reflected at the functional level,
with samples collected during the dry season and at drier white-sand sites featuring
lower abundances of organic matter decomposition-related pathways. Soil hydro-
chemical data further emphasizes how prolonged drought may limit soil nutrient supply
through local microbiomes. Our results suggest that the reduced nutrient availability and
soil connectivity during drought and within the white-sand ecosystem lower microbial
activity and functional redundancy, henceforth demonstrating the strong impact of
ecosystem type and drought on tropical microbiomes and their functional capacities.
Thus, our results highlight how the observed increase in droughts in the Amazon rainforest may limit nutrient supply through the microbial community, limiting carbon
sequestration in the ecosystem and resulting in negative consequences for the global
climate system, and ultimately, rendering this vital system vulnerable to climate change
induced disturbances.
Due to its well-known nutrient limitation, the Amazon rainforest relies heavily on rapid
microbial decomposition of biomass to release freshly available nutrients for plant
growth. Despite the fundamental importance of decomposers for this ecosystem, little
is known about the biodiversity of tropical soil microbiomes, their functional activity, and
spatial and seasonal variability. We used amplicon rRNA sequencing and shotgun
metagenomic sequencing to investigate differences between microbial communities of
the Amazon’s terra firme forests and much drier white-sand ecosystems during the dry
and wet seasons of 2022 and the 2023 El Nino year. Using both sequencing datasets, we
used Picrust2 and Maaslin3 to study season and site-specific shifts in the functional
potential of microbiota, with focus on organic matter cycling. Bacterial communities
differed significantly between seasons, displaying lower diversity in response to seasonal
drought. In contrast, fungal diversity measures differed strongly between sites but were
less affected by seasonal variation in the first year, indicating that drought was buffered
more efficiently. However, this was not the case in the subsequent El Nino year,
in which microbial diversity did not recover during the 2023 wet season and dropped
below 2022 wet season levels during El Nino. Fungal and bacterial communities
alike also featured lower abundance of taxa involved in organic matter decomposition
following seasonal drought. These changes were also reflected at the functional level,
with samples collected during the dry season and at drier white-sand sites featuring
lower abundances of organic matter decomposition-related pathways. Soil hydro-
chemical data further emphasizes how prolonged drought may limit soil nutrient supply
through local microbiomes. Our results suggest that the reduced nutrient availability and
soil connectivity during drought and within the white-sand ecosystem lower microbial
activity and functional redundancy, henceforth demonstrating the strong impact of
ecosystem type and drought on tropical microbiomes and their functional capacities.
Thus, our results highlight how the observed increase in droughts in the Amazon rainforest may limit nutrient supply through the microbial community, limiting carbon
sequestration in the ecosystem and resulting in negative consequences for the global
climate system, and ultimately, rendering this vital system vulnerable to climate change
induced disturbances.