AUTHOR=Fiore-Donno Anna Maria , Richter-Heitmann Tim , Degrune Florine , Dumack Kenneth , Regan Kathleen M. , Marhan Sven , Boeddinghaus Runa S. , Rillig Matthias C. , Friedrich Michael W. , Kandeler Ellen , Bonkowski Michael TITLE=Functional Traits and Spatio-Temporal Structure of a Major Group of Soil Protists (Rhizaria: Cercozoa) in a Temperate Grassland JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01332 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.01332 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Soil protists are increasingly appreciated as essential components of soil foodwebs; however, there is a dearth of information on the factors structuring their communities. Here we investigate the importance of different biotic and abiotic factors as key drivers of spatial and seasonal distribution of protistan communities. We conducted an intensive survey of a 10 m2 grassland plot in Germany, focusing on a major group of protists, the Cercozoa. From 177 soil samples, collected from April to November, we obtained 694 Operational Taxonomy Units representing >6 million Illumina reads. All major cercozoan taxonomic and functional groups were present, dominated by the small flagellates of the Glissomonadida. We found evidence of environmental selection structuring the cercozoan communities both spatially and seasonally. Spatial analyses indicated that communities were correlated within a range of 3.5 m. Seasonal variations in the abundance of bacterivores and bacteria, followed by that of omnivores suggested a dynamic prey-predator succession. The most influential edaphic properties were moisture and clay content, which differentially affected each functional group. Our study is based on an intense sampling of protists at a small scale, thus providing a detailed description of the biodiversity of different taxa/functional groups and the ecological processes involved in shaping their distribution.