Abstract

The concentration of atmospheric CO₂ is increasing largely owing to human activities. Although it is well established that elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) stimulates plant growth and primary productivity, the effect of eCO₂ on soil microbial communities remains poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to examine the effects of eCO₂ on the taxonomical diversity, composition, and structure of rhizosphere microbial communities of Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora) through next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rRNA genes. Three bacterial phyla, Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria, were found to be dominant in all samples. Species richness estimates (Chao1 and ACE) and diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson) for the three sampling chambers were the highest from the eCO₂ (approximately 1.4× ambient, ≈ 560 ppm). These findings suggested that elevated atmospheric CO₂ affected the bacterial community composition in the rhizosphere of Korean red pine (Pinus densiflora).

The full article appeared on the Forest Science and Technology website at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21580103.2020.1866089?src=