The effect of climate change and site on the above- and belowground bacterial endophytic communities of subalpine conifer seedlings
D. CARPER (1), A. Carrell (2), L. Kueppers (3), C. Frank (1) (1) University of California, Merced, U.S.A.; (2) Department of Biology, Duke University, U.S.A.; (3) Climate and Ecosystem Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley NaHonal Laboratory, U.S.A.

Climate warming is expected to drive uphill migration of subalpine forests, with seedling establishment presenting a critical bottleneck for migration and persistence. The plant microbiome plays a role in plant response to biotic and abiotic stress, yet is rarely examined in studies investigating plant response to climate change. Seedling endophyte communities may respond to environmental conditions, potentially aiding seedling establishment under a range of conditions. Alternatively, endophyte communities may be conserved across environmental conditions if the taxa perform critical metabolic or physiological functions required by seedlings. We used Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to examine the root and shoot endophytic communities in 1-year old seedlings of limber pine establishing in common gardens subject to experimental climate manipulations across an elevation gradient. The most abundant members of both root- and shoot communities were identical to strains with antifungal activity, perhaps suggesting a role in biotic stress protection. The root and shoot communities were significantly different in their diversity and taxonomic composition, and they responded differently to biotic and abiotic differences between forest and higher elevation sites, as well as to climate treatments. This potentially reflects differences in adaptation and colonization routes between root and shoot endophytes, and suggests that shoot and root communities could play distinct roles.

Abstract Number: P4-90
Session Type: Poster