Continental-Scale Paddy Soil Bacterial Community Structure, Function, and Biotic Interaction
Hongyi Li, Hang Wang, Xin‐Hua Tao, Xian-Zhe Wang, Wei‐Zheng Jin, Jack A. Gilbert, Yong‐Guan Zhu, Zhijian Zhang
Abstract
Rice fields provide food for over half of the world's human population. The ecology of paddy soil microbiomes is shaped by human activities, which can have a profound impact on rice yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil health. Investigations of the soil bacteria in four typical Chinese rice-growing regions showed that (i) soil bacterial communities maintain highly modularized species-to-species network structures; (ii) community patterns were shaped by the balance of integrated stochastic and deterministic processes, in which homogenizing selection and dispersal limitation dominate; and (iii) deterministic processes and climatic and edaphic factors influence community patterns mainly by their impact on highly connected nodes (i.e., keystone taxa) in networks. Characterizing the unique ecology of bacterial community patterns in paddy soil at a continental scale may lead to improved crop productivity and resilience, as well as sustaining agricultural soils.