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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2006, p. 7231-7237, Vol. 72, No. 11
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00926-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Effect of Sheep Urine Deposition on the Bacterial Community Structure in an Acidic Upland Grassland Soil{dagger}

Deirdre Rooney,1 Nabla Kennedy,2 Louise Deering,1 Deirdre Gleeson,3 and Nicholas Clipson1*

Microbial Ecology Group, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Ardmore House, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland,1 Ecosystem Science and Management Program, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9, Canada,2 School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, MDP M082, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia3

Received 19 April 2006/ Accepted 26 July 2006

The effect of the addition of synthetic sheep urine (SSU) and plant species on the bacterial community composition of upland acidic grasslands was studied using a microcosm approach. Low, medium, and high concentrations of SSU were applied to pots containing plant species typical of both unimproved (Agrostis capillaris) and agriculturally improved (Lolium perenne) grasslands, and harvests were carried out 10 days and 50 days after the addition of SSU. SSU application significantly increased both soil pH (P < 0.005), with pH values ranging from pH 5.4 (zero SSU) to pH 6.4 (high SSU), and microbial activity (P < 0.005), with treatment with medium and high levels of SSU displaying significantly higher microbial activity (triphenylformazan dehydrogenase activity) than treatment of soil with zero or low concentrations of SSU. Microbial biomass, however, was not significantly altered by any of the SSU applications. Plant species alone had no effect on microbial biomass or activity. Bacterial community structure was profiled using bacterial automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis. Multidimensional scaling plots indicated that applications of high concentrations of SSU significantly altered the bacterial community composition in the presence of plant species but at different times: 10 days after application of high concentrations of SSU, the bacterial community composition of L. perenne-planted soils differed significantly from those of any other soils, whereas in the case of A. capillaris-planted soils, the bacterial community composition was different 50 days after treatment with high concentrations of SSU. Canonical correspondence analysis also highlighted the importance of interactions between SSU addition, plant species, and time in the bacterial community structure. This study has shown that the response of plants and bacterial communities to sheep urine deposition in grasslands is dependent on both the grass species present and the concentration of SSU applied, which may have important ecological consequences for agricultural grasslands.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Microbial Ecology Group, School of Biology and Environmental Science, Ardmore House, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone: 353 17161365. Fax: 353 17161183. E-mail: nicholas.clipson{at}ucd.ie.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2006, p. 7231-7237, Vol. 72, No. 11
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00926-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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