Dang Hanli, Zhao Wenqin, Zhang Tao, Cheng Yongxiang, Dong Jianrui, Zhuang Li
College of Life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China.
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Key Laboratory of Oasis Town and Mountain-basin System Ecology, College of life Sciences, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang, China.
Front Microbiol. 2022 Aug 10;13:960594. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.960594. eCollection 2022.
In the Gurbantunggut Desert of northwest China, the main habitat of (great gerbil) is under the thickets of , the main construction species. In the long-term coexistence, continuous gerbil activities (burrowing, defecating, and gnawing) limited the growth of , affected the root microenvironment under the forest, and weakened the desert ecosystem. However, there is a lack of general understanding about the response of desert soil microhabitats to such gerbil disturbance. Accordingly, this study examined the effects of different intensities of gerbil disturbance (none, mild, moderate, or severe disturbances) on soil nutrients content and used high-throughput sequencing to explore the change in diversity and structure of microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) in rhizosphere at different soil depths (0-20, 20-40, and 40-60 cm). In the arid desert ecosystem, compared with the soil fungal community, the alpha diversity of the soil bacterial community was significantly affected by gerbil disturbance. Meanwhile, both soil depth and gerbil disturbance significantly impacted the beta diversity and relative abundance of soil bacterial and fungal communities. In addition, gerbil disturbance significantly altered the soil characteristics affecting the distribution and composition of soil microbial communities in rhizosphere, especially the soil bacterial community. This survey provides evidence that remold impact of gerbil disturbance on soil microenvironment of rhizosphere in desert ecosystems in northwest China, which helps to further understand the potential correlations with changes in the microbial community at a regional scale.
在中国西北部的古尔班通古特沙漠，（大沙鼠）的主要栖息地位于主要建群种（梭梭）的灌丛之下。在长期共存过程中，沙鼠持续的活动（打洞、排便和啃咬）限制了梭梭的生长，影响了梭梭林下的根系微环境，削弱了沙漠生态系统。然而，对于沙漠土壤微生境对这种沙鼠干扰的响应，目前还缺乏普遍认识。因此，本研究考察了不同强度的沙鼠干扰（无干扰、轻度干扰、中度干扰或重度干扰）对土壤养分含量的影响，并利用高通量测序技术探究了不同土壤深度（0 - 20厘米、20 - 40厘米和40 - 60厘米）下梭梭根际微生物群落（细菌和真菌）多样性和结构的变化。在干旱的沙漠生态系统中，与土壤真菌群落相比，沙鼠干扰对土壤细菌群落的α多样性有显著影响。同时，土壤深度和沙鼠干扰都对土壤细菌和真菌群落的β多样性及相对丰度有显著影响。此外，沙鼠干扰显著改变了影响梭梭根际土壤微生物群落分布和组成的土壤特性，尤其是土壤细菌群落。本调查提供了证据，证明了中国西北部沙漠生态系统中沙鼠干扰对梭梭根际土壤微环境的重塑影响有助于在区域尺度上进一步理解与微生物群落变化的潜在相关性。
