Ambient climate and experimental drought strongly shape the richness and abundance of soil microbial communities in a tropical montane cloud forest

Clicks: 4
ID: 332132
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #97 of 99 articles by views in fems microbiology ecology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Tropical montane forests are undergoing rapid climate change, with declining cloudiness and warming in higher elevations. While impacts on vegetation are increasingly documented, effects on belowground microbial communities and ecosystem processes remain poorly studied. We investigated how experimental drought and warming influence soil microbial communities and decomposition across a 900-m elevation gradient in the tropical montane forests of the Dominican Republic. Precipitation exclusion shelters simulated drought at high (2250 m a.s.l.) and low elevation (1350 m a.s.l.) and high elevation soils were translocated to the lower elevation to simulate warming. Fungal and bacterial communities were measured by DNA sequencing over 11 months, in addition to soil properties and litter decomposition. Fungal richness increased under drought but was unchanged following translocation, whereas bacterial richness and abundance were largely unaffected by either treatment. Decomposition was consistently faster at the lower (warmer) site but slowed under intense drought at both elevations. Soil carbon was higher at high elevation, consistent with slower decomposition. Overall, these results indicate cooler and wetter conditions promote structurally and functionally complex fungal communities. As temperature and precipitation patterns change, fungal communities are more likely to shift in response, altering decomposition and nutrient cycling, with implications for carbon storage in tropical montane ecosystems, especially at high elevations.
Reference Key
openalex_W7221533710 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Sarah J. Sapsford, Patrick H. Martin
Journal fems microbiology ecology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/femsec/fiag112
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiag112
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.