Geobiology is a new discipline on the crossing interface between earth science and life science, and aims to understand the in- teraction and co-evolution between organisms and environments. On the basis of the latest...Geobiology is a new discipline on the crossing interface between earth science and life science, and aims to understand the in- teraction and co-evolution between organisms and environments. On the basis of the latest international achievements, the new data presented in the Beijing geobiology forum sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013, and the papers in this special issue, here we present an overview of the progress and perspectives on three important frontiers, including geobiology of the critical periods in Earth history, geomicrobes and their responses and feedbacks to global environmental changes, and geobiology in extreme environments. Knowledge is greatly improved about the close relationship of some significant biotic events such as origin, radiation, extinction, and recovery of organisms with the deep Earth processes and the resultant envi- ronmental processes among oceans, land, and atmosphere in the critical periods, although the specific dynamics of the co-evolution between ancient life and paleoenvironments is still largely unknown. A variety of geomicrobial functional groups were found to respond sensitively to paleoenvironmental changes, which enable the establishment of proxies for paleoenvi- ronmental reconstruction, and to play active roles on the Earth environmental changes via elemental biogeochemical cycles and mineral bio-transforrnations, but to be deciphered are the mechanisms of these functional groups that change paleoenvi- ronmental conditions. Microbes of potential geobiology significance were found and isolated from some extreme environments with their biological properties partly understood, but little is known about their geobiological functions to change Earth envi- ronments. The biotic processes to alter or modify the environments are thus proposed to be the very issue geobiology aims to decipher in the future. Geobiology will greatly extend the temporal and spatial scope of biotic research on Earth and beyond. It has great potential of application in the domains of re展开更多
Understanding the vertical distribution patterns of soil microbial community and its driving factors in alpine grasslands in the humid regions of the Tibet Plateau might be of great significance for predicting the soi...Understanding the vertical distribution patterns of soil microbial community and its driving factors in alpine grasslands in the humid regions of the Tibet Plateau might be of great significance for predicting the soil microbial community of this type of vegetation in response to environmental change. Using phospholipid fatty acids （PLFA）, we investigated soil microbial community composition along an elevational gradient （3094-4131 m above sea level） on Mount Yajiageng, and we explored the impact of plant functional groups and soil chemistry on the soil microbial community. Except for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi （AM fungi） biomarker 18：2ω6,9 increasing significantly, other biomarkers did not show a consistent trend with the elevational gradient. Microbial biomass quantified by total PLFAs did not show the elevational trend and had mean values ranging from 1.64 to 4.09 ktmol per g organic carbon （OC）, which had the maximum value at the highest site. Bacterial PLFAs exhibited a similar trend with total PLFAs, and its mean values ranged from 0.82 to 1.81 μmol （g OC）-1. The bacterial to fungal biomass ratios had the minimum value at the highest site, which might be related to temperature and soil total nitrogen （TN）. The ratios of Gram-negative to Gram-positive bacteria had a significantly negative correlation with soil TN and had the maximum value at the highest site. Leguminous plant coverage and soil TN explained 58% of the total variation in the soil microbial community and could achieve the same interpretation as the whole model. Other factors may influence the soil microbial community through interaction with leguminous plant coverage and soil TN. Soil chemistry and plant functional group composition in substantial amounts explained different parts of the variation within the soil microbial community, and the interaction between them had no impact on the soil microbial community maybe beeause long-term grazing greatly reduces litter. In sum, although there were obvious differences i展开更多
The functional groups of planktonic protist communities and their responses to the changes of environmental conditions were investigated in a semi-enclosed shrimp-farming pond in Qingdao,Shandong Province,China,during...The functional groups of planktonic protist communities and their responses to the changes of environmental conditions were investigated in a semi-enclosed shrimp-farming pond in Qingdao,Shandong Province,China,during a six-month study period （a complete shrimp-culture cycle） from May to October 2002.The results reveal that： （1） the protist communities represented five trophic and functional groups of the species identified,about 60% were photoautotrophs,20% algivores,12% bacterivores,5% raptors and about 3% non-selectives;（2） the photoautotrophs,algivores and bacterivores were the primary contributors to the changes in the protist communities in short temporal scales,the succession of dominance typically being bacterivores→photoautotrophs→algivores,with the raptors dominating the protist communities in a single sample （early June）;（3） the photoautotrophs and non-selectives were the primary contributors to the peak of protist abundance in early October whereas the photoautotrophs,bacterivores,raptors and non-selectives mainly gave rise to two bimodal peaks of biomass in July and October respectively;（4） five functional groups of protist communities represented significant correlations with water nutrients （i.e.,NH 3-N,NO 3-N,and PO 4 ）,either alone or in combination with temperature,of which algivores and raptors were strongly correlated with phosphate and the concentration of Chl a,while bacterivores were strongly related to nitrogen and the concentration of bacteria.These findings confirm that planktonic protists are potentially useful bioindicators of water quality in the semi-enclosed mariculture system.展开更多
Numerous studies have been devoted to the physical-chemical weathering processes leading to the creation of unique soil formations having their own history that induce soil-biotic diversity.However,the extent to which...Numerous studies have been devoted to the physical-chemical weathering processes leading to the creation of unique soil formations having their own history that induce soil-biotic diversity.However,the extent to which unique geomorphic formations influence soil biotic seasonal variation is not clear.Our aim was to define seasonal variations of soil biota in soils of different-aged terraces of the Makhtesh Ramon anticline erosional cirque in southern Israel.The strong effect of Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon crater) erosional fluvial terrace age initiated by climatic changes during the Late Pleistocene- Early Holocene period on seasonal variations in both soil properties and the abundance and composition of soil biota were demonstrated.However,age dependence was not constant and values for observed soil properties and microbial activity were negligible between younger and older terraces for certain seasons,while free-living nematodes along with bacterial-feeding group were strongly dependent on the geomorphic features of the ages throughout the study period.展开更多
基金supported by the project on Strategy Development of Geobiology and Astrobiology from Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2011CB808800)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41330103)the "111" Program from Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. B08030)
文摘Geobiology is a new discipline on the crossing interface between earth science and life science, and aims to understand the in- teraction and co-evolution between organisms and environments. On the basis of the latest international achievements, the new data presented in the Beijing geobiology forum sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013, and the papers in this special issue, here we present an overview of the progress and perspectives on three important frontiers, including geobiology of the critical periods in Earth history, geomicrobes and their responses and feedbacks to global environmental changes, and geobiology in extreme environments. Knowledge is greatly improved about the close relationship of some significant biotic events such as origin, radiation, extinction, and recovery of organisms with the deep Earth processes and the resultant envi- ronmental processes among oceans, land, and atmosphere in the critical periods, although the specific dynamics of the co-evolution between ancient life and paleoenvironments is still largely unknown. A variety of geomicrobial functional groups were found to respond sensitively to paleoenvironmental changes, which enable the establishment of proxies for paleoenvi- ronmental reconstruction, and to play active roles on the Earth environmental changes via elemental biogeochemical cycles and mineral bio-transforrnations, but to be deciphered are the mechanisms of these functional groups that change paleoenvi- ronmental conditions. Microbes of potential geobiology significance were found and isolated from some extreme environments with their biological properties partly understood, but little is known about their geobiological functions to change Earth envi- ronments. The biotic processes to alter or modify the environments are thus proposed to be the very issue geobiology aims to decipher in the future. Geobiology will greatly extend the temporal and spatial scope of biotic research on Earth and beyond. It has great potential of application in the domains of re
基金supported by the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams (KZZD-EW-TZ-06)
文摘Understanding the vertical distribution patterns of soil microbial community and its driving factors in alpine grasslands in the humid regions of the Tibet Plateau might be of great significance for predicting the soil microbial community of this type of vegetation in response to environmental change. Using phospholipid fatty acids （PLFA）, we investigated soil microbial community composition along an elevational gradient （3094-4131 m above sea level） on Mount Yajiageng, and we explored the impact of plant functional groups and soil chemistry on the soil microbial community. Except for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi （AM fungi） biomarker 18：2ω6,9 increasing significantly, other biomarkers did not show a consistent trend with the elevational gradient. Microbial biomass quantified by total PLFAs did not show the elevational trend and had mean values ranging from 1.64 to 4.09 ktmol per g organic carbon （OC）, which had the maximum value at the highest site. Bacterial PLFAs exhibited a similar trend with total PLFAs, and its mean values ranged from 0.82 to 1.81 μmol （g OC）-1. The bacterial to fungal biomass ratios had the minimum value at the highest site, which might be related to temperature and soil total nitrogen （TN）. The ratios of Gram-negative to Gram-positive bacteria had a significantly negative correlation with soil TN and had the maximum value at the highest site. Leguminous plant coverage and soil TN explained 58% of the total variation in the soil microbial community and could achieve the same interpretation as the whole model. Other factors may influence the soil microbial community through interaction with leguminous plant coverage and soil TN. Soil chemistry and plant functional group composition in substantial amounts explained different parts of the variation within the soil microbial community, and the interaction between them had no impact on the soil microbial community maybe beeause long-term grazing greatly reduces litter. In sum, although there were obvious differences i
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 40676076 and 30700069the Darwin Initiative Programme under contract No.14-015a grant from the Center of Excellence in Biodiversity Research,King Saud University
文摘The functional groups of planktonic protist communities and their responses to the changes of environmental conditions were investigated in a semi-enclosed shrimp-farming pond in Qingdao,Shandong Province,China,during a six-month study period （a complete shrimp-culture cycle） from May to October 2002.The results reveal that： （1） the protist communities represented five trophic and functional groups of the species identified,about 60% were photoautotrophs,20% algivores,12% bacterivores,5% raptors and about 3% non-selectives;（2） the photoautotrophs,algivores and bacterivores were the primary contributors to the changes in the protist communities in short temporal scales,the succession of dominance typically being bacterivores→photoautotrophs→algivores,with the raptors dominating the protist communities in a single sample （early June）;（3） the photoautotrophs and non-selectives were the primary contributors to the peak of protist abundance in early October whereas the photoautotrophs,bacterivores,raptors and non-selectives mainly gave rise to two bimodal peaks of biomass in July and October respectively;（4） five functional groups of protist communities represented significant correlations with water nutrients （i.e.,NH 3-N,NO 3-N,and PO 4 ）,either alone or in combination with temperature,of which algivores and raptors were strongly correlated with phosphate and the concentration of Chl a,while bacterivores were strongly related to nitrogen and the concentration of bacteria.These findings confirm that planktonic protists are potentially useful bioindicators of water quality in the semi-enclosed mariculture system.
文摘Numerous studies have been devoted to the physical-chemical weathering processes leading to the creation of unique soil formations having their own history that induce soil-biotic diversity.However,the extent to which unique geomorphic formations influence soil biotic seasonal variation is not clear.Our aim was to define seasonal variations of soil biota in soils of different-aged terraces of the Makhtesh Ramon anticline erosional cirque in southern Israel.The strong effect of Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon crater) erosional fluvial terrace age initiated by climatic changes during the Late Pleistocene- Early Holocene period on seasonal variations in both soil properties and the abundance and composition of soil biota were demonstrated.However,age dependence was not constant and values for observed soil properties and microbial activity were negligible between younger and older terraces for certain seasons,while free-living nematodes along with bacterial-feeding group were strongly dependent on the geomorphic features of the ages throughout the study period.
