SUCCESSION OF SOIL MICROBIOMES IN NATURAL AND TRANSFORMED ECOSYSTEMS

Abstract: Microbial community dynamics in soil play a key role in the sustainable development of ecosystems. Conceptual models of exogenous and endogenous successions in soil microbiome of natural and transformed ecosystems were proposed. Heterotrophic successions were divided into exogenous and endogenous categories where exogenous succession is fueled by continuous external inputs of organic carbon, while the majority of organic carbon supplies in endogenous succession are derived from a single initial input contained within the substrate itself. These two categories are also differentiated by the degree to which the developing communities modify and influence the quantity and quality of available carbon supplies. During endogenous succession, microbial community structure and the nature of the organic carbon substrates available in the environment are inextricably linked and will change together as succession progresses. The general regularities of changes in the functional and taxonomic structure of soil microbial communities at different stages of the succession process have been established. It is noted that soil biomass and phylogenetic diversity are markers of succession processes in the soil microbiome. On the basis of long-term monitoring according to the concept, five main categories of succession are purposed with the indicated succession markers and drivers in different types of ecosystems.