Han Chenglong, Liang Defei, Zhou Weidi, Xu Qiuyun, Xiang Mingxue, Gu Yanjie, Siddique Kadambot H M
State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China.
College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China.
Plants (Basel). 2024 Mar 9;13(6):780. doi: 10.3390/plants13060780.
Plant secondary succession has been explored extensively in restoring degraded grasslands in semiarid or dry environments. However, the dynamics of soil microbial communities and their interactions with plant succession following restoration efforts remain understudied, particularly in alpine ecosystems. This study investigates the interplay between soil properties, plant communities, and microbial populations across a chronosequence of grassland restoration on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. We examined five succession stages representing artificial grasslands of varying recovery durations from 0 to 19. We characterized soil microbial compositions using high-throughput sequencing, enzymatic activity assessments, and biomass analyses. Our findings reveal distinct plant and microbial secondary succession patterns, marked by increased soil organic carbon, total phosphorus, and NH-N contents. Soil microbial biomass, enzymatic activities, and microbial community diversity increased as recovery time progressed, attributed to increased plant aboveground biomass, cover, and diversity. The observed patterns in biomass and diversity dynamics of plant, bacterial, and fungal communities suggest parallel plant and fungal succession occurrences. Indicators of bacterial and fungal communities, including biomass, enzymatic activities, and community composition, exhibited sensitivity to variations in plant biomass and diversity. Fungal succession, in particular, exhibited susceptibility to changes in the soil C: N ratio. Our results underscore the significant roles of plant biomass, cover, and diversity in shaping microbial community composition attributed to vegetation-induced alterations in soil nutrients and soil microclimates. This study contributes valuable insights into the intricate relationships driving secondary succession in alpine grassland restoration.
在半干旱或干旱环境中恢复退化草原时，植物次生演替已得到广泛研究。然而，土壤微生物群落的动态变化及其在恢复工作后与植物演替的相互作用仍未得到充分研究，尤其是在高山生态系统中。本研究调查了中国青藏高原草原恢复时间序列中土壤性质、植物群落和微生物种群之间的相互作用。我们考察了五个演替阶段，代表了恢复时间从0到19年不等的人工草地。我们使用高通量测序、酶活性评估和生物量分析来表征土壤微生物组成。我们的研究结果揭示了不同的植物和微生物次生演替模式，其特征是土壤有机碳、总磷和铵态氮含量增加。随着恢复时间的推移，土壤微生物生物量、酶活性和微生物群落多样性增加，这归因于植物地上生物量、覆盖度和多样性的增加。观察到的植物、细菌和真菌群落生物量和多样性动态模式表明植物和真菌演替同时发生。细菌和真菌群落的指标，包括生物量、酶活性和群落组成，对植物生物量和多样性的变化表现出敏感性。特别是真菌演替对土壤碳氮比的变化敏感。我们的结果强调了植物生物量、覆盖度和多样性在塑造微生物群落组成方面的重要作用，这归因于植被引起的土壤养分和土壤微气候的变化。这项研究为驱动高山草原恢复中次生演替的复杂关系提供了有价值的见解。
