Bamboo forest management leads to a shift in the soil energy channel

Abstract Bamboos are widespread in the subtropics and tropics. They grow quickly, and are therefore important substitute for timber. Bamboo forest management and cultivation often include removing competitive trees; thus these shifts in forest composition should cascade to impact soil communities and the processes they mediate. Using a long-term (12 year) bamboo forest management study, we determined the impact of bamboo forest management on soil microbial and nematode community composition through time (2008–2010). Surprisingly, we found that conversion from a mixed and relatively diverse bamboo forest to a pure bamboo forest did not affect bamboo biomass. However, the soil fungal:bacterial ratio, nematode diversity index, and fungivores:bacterivores all declined within and across years. Taken together, our results suggest that conversion from mixed to pure bamboo forest can cause a switch from the fungal-based to the bacterial-based energy channel, i.e., accelerate the energy flow and reduce the stability of the soil ecosystem. The findings suggest that managing for a mixed bamboo forest may increase forest diversity and health overtime.