Salinity Change Overrides Nitrogen Increase in Affecting Microbial Abundance, Diversity, Community Composition and Organic Carbon Mineralization in Saline Lakes

Abstract

Saline lakes are simultaneously affected by salinity change due to climate change and increased nitrogen (N) input from human activities and atmosphere deposition. However, it is poorly known about how the salinity change and increased N input synchronously influence microbial community and its associated organic carbon mineralization in saline lakes. Here, lake sediments with different salinity (0.7–376.3 g·L⁻¹) were employed to establish microcosm experiments, supplemented with different concentrations of NH₄NO₃, followed by incubation for 6 months and subsequent analyses of geochemistry and microbial community composition of the incubated sediments. The results showed that salinity change relative to nitrogen increase had a greater impact on microbial abundance, diversity, community structure and organic carbon mineralization in the studied lake sediments. Salinity increase significantly (P < 0.05) reduced CO₂ production rates and bacterial diversity in lake sediments with different amounts of N additions, and the magnitude of the effect of salinity decreased with increasing N. Taken together, our results provide a more comprehensive understanding of the synchronous effects of salinity changes and increased N input on microbial abundance, diversity, community structure, and organic carbon mineralization in lakes with a wide salinity range.

Keywords

nitrogen input / organic carbon mineralization / microbial community / salinity / lake sediment / carbon cycle / environmental geology

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