Effects of Winter Snowpack on the Soil Bacterial Community in a Temperate Wetland in Northeastern China

Global climate change is accompanied by changes in the amounts of ice and snow. However, the effects of snow coverage on the soil microbial community have been poorly studied. Here, the soil bacterial communities and diversities during winter in a marsh-meadow wetland were investigated in Sanjiang plain. In this study, there were four levels (no cover, 20 cm, 50 cm, 100 cm) snow cover were conducted in a field in the Sanjiang plain. Leakage of soil water into or from the treatment plots was prevented. Soil physicochemical properties were determined in early spring when the snow was removed, and, the bacterial community structure and diversity in soil samples were determined by partial 16S rDNA gene amplification and sequencing. The results showed that with an increase of snow cover, the average soil temperature increased and the soil acidity and total nitrogen content were slightly decreased. A higher snow cover led to an increase in the soil bacterial alpha diversity and, influenced the relevant abundance of bacterial phyla in various ways. Interestingly, soil covered by 100 cm snow more strongly resembled the uncovered soil, in terms of phyla distribution, than a snow cover of 20 or 50 cm did. This demonstrates that a decrease of snow cover as a result of climate changes can have a serious impact on soil microbial community structure and diversity. In summary, these results showed that soil bacterial communities present in marsh meadows wetlands are sensitive to changes in winter snow coverage. (C) 2020 Friends Science Publishers