State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, 730000, Lanzhou, PR China.
Department of Botany, Government College Women University Sialkot, Pakistan.
Environ Res. 2024 Feb 1;242:117711. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117711. Epub 2023 Nov 21.
Altitude influences biodiversity and physiochemical soil attributes in terrestrial ecosystems. It is of immense importance to know the patterns of how interactions among climatic and edaphic factors influence plant and microbial diversity in various ecosystems, particularly along the gradients. We hypothesize that altitudinal variation determines the distribution of plant and microbial species as well as their interactions. To test the hypothesis, different sites with variable altitudes were selected. Analyses of edaphic factors revealed significant (p < 0.001) effects of the altitude. Soil ammonium and nitrate were strongly affected by it contrary to potassium (K), soil organic matter and carbon. The response patterns of individual taxonomic groups differed across the altitudinal gradient. Plant species and soil fungal diversity increased with increasing altitude, while soil archaeal and bacterial diversity decreased with increasing altitude. Plant species richness showed significant positive and negative interactions with edaphic and climatic factors. Fungal species richness was also significantly influenced by the soil ammonium, nitrate, available phosphorus, available potassium, electrical conductivity, and the pH of the soil, but showed non-significant interactions with other edaphic factors. Similarly, soil variables had limited impact on soil bacterial and archaeal species richness along the altitude gradient. Proteobacteria, Ascomycota, and Thaumarchaeota dominate soil bacterial, fungal, and archaeal communities, with relative abundance of 27.4%, 70.56%, and 81.55%, respectively. Additionally, Cynodon dactylon is most abundant plant species, comprising 22.33% of the recorded plant taxa in various study sites. RDA revealed that these communities influenced by certain edaphic and climatic factors, e.g., Actinobacteria strongly respond to MAT, EC, and C/N ratio, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota show strong associations with EC and MAP, respectively. Thaumarcheota are linked to pH, and OM, while Cyperus rotundus are sensitive to AI and EC. In conclusion, the observed variations in microbial as well as plant species richness and changes in soil properties at different elevations provide valuable insights into the factors determining ecosystem stability and multifunctionality in different regions.
海拔高度影响陆地生态系统中的生物多样性和理化土壤属性。了解气候和土壤因素相互作用如何影响不同生态系统中植物和微生物多样性的模式非常重要，特别是在梯度上。我们假设海拔高度变化决定了植物和微生物物种的分布及其相互作用。为了检验这一假设，选择了不同海拔高度的不同地点。土壤因子分析表明，海拔高度有显著影响（p<0.001）。土壤铵态氮和硝态氮受其影响强烈，而钾（K）、土壤有机质和碳则不受其影响。不同海拔梯度上各分类群的响应模式不同。植物物种和土壤真菌多样性随海拔升高而增加，而土壤古菌和细菌多样性随海拔升高而降低。植物物种丰富度与土壤和气候因子表现出显著的正、负相互作用。真菌物种丰富度也受到土壤铵态氮、硝态氮、有效磷、有效钾、电导率和土壤 pH 值的显著影响，但与其他土壤因子无显著相互作用。同样，土壤变量对土壤细菌和古菌物种丰富度在海拔梯度上的影响有限。变形菌门、子囊菌门和泉古菌门分别是土壤细菌、真菌和古菌群落的优势类群，相对丰度分别为 27.4%、70.56%和 81.55%。此外，狗牙根是最丰富的植物物种，占各研究点记录的植物分类群的 22.33%。RDA 表明，这些群落受某些土壤和气候因子的影响，例如，放线菌对 MAT、EC 和 C/N 比反应强烈，子囊菌门和担子菌门分别与 EC 和 MAP 强烈相关。泉古菌与 pH 和 OM 有关，而香附子对 AI 和 EC 敏感。总之，不同海拔高度下微生物和植物物种丰富度的变化以及土壤性质的变化为了解不同地区生态系统稳定性和多功能性的决定因素提供了有价值的见解。
