Du Yao, Yang Yan, Wu Shengnan, Gao Xiaoxia, He Xiaoqing, Dong Shikui
School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
State Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 1;16(1):3116. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58080-2.
The alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), the world's highest plateau, have been severely degraded. To address this degradation, human-involved restoration efforts, including grassland cultivation, have been implemented. However, the impact of these practices on soil microbial community stability and its relationship with plant-soil system resilience has not been explored. In this study, we evaluate the effects of grassland restoration on microbial communities. We show that bacteria demonstrate higher composition resistance and resilience during the restoration process, when compared to fungi. The changes we observe in microbial community interactions support the stress gradient hypothesis. Our results emphasize the synergistic role of network resilience and the restoration of the plant-soil system. Importantly, we find that core microbial species significantly influence the resilience of the plant-soil system by sustaining the co-occurrence networks. These insights underscore the critical roles of microbial communities in grassland restoration and suggest new strategies for boosting grassland resilience by safeguarding core microbes.
世界屋脊青藏高原的高寒草原已严重退化。为应对这种退化，人们实施了包括草地开垦在内的人为参与的恢复措施。然而，这些措施对土壤微生物群落稳定性的影响及其与植物 - 土壤系统恢复力的关系尚未得到探究。在本研究中，我们评估了草地恢复对微生物群落的影响。我们发现，与真菌相比，细菌在恢复过程中表现出更高的组成抗性和恢复力。我们观察到的微生物群落相互作用的变化支持了压力梯度假说。我们的结果强调了网络恢复力和植物 - 土壤系统恢复的协同作用。重要的是，我们发现核心微生物物种通过维持共生网络显著影响植物 - 土壤系统的恢复力。这些见解强调了微生物群落在草地恢复中的关键作用，并提出了通过保护核心微生物来提高草地恢复力的新策略。
