Ji Zhanquan, Dong Qianqian, Yang Rong, Qin Wenhao, Peng Yi, Jia Yangyang
College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
Plants (Basel). 2025 Apr 2;14(7):1099. doi: 10.3390/plants14071099.
Climate change is altering precipitation patterns in Central Asia's arid zones, destabilizing desert ecosystems. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, key soil microorganisms forming symbiosis with most plants, critically maintain ecosystem stability, yet their mechanisms in regulating individual plant species to sustain community stability remain unclear. We conducted a 5-year in situ experiment in the Gurbantunggut Desert, testing how AM fungi influence desert plant community stability under increased precipitation. Using a randomized block design with three treatments-control (CK), increased precipitation (W), and precipitation with Benomyl fungicide (BW)-we monitored plant community dynamics. We discovered that both increased precipitation and AM fungi altered plant community structure without affecting diversity. Precipitation boosted aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and density, enhancing community stability via dominant species (e.g., ), supporting the mass ratio hypothesis. AM fungi further stabilized the community by increasing ANPP and enhancing the common species stability under increased precipitation, while the contribution of rare species was also non-negligible, aligning with the subordinate insurance hypothesis. Overall, our study elucidates how increased precipitation and AM fungi regulate plant community stability at the species level. Specifically, it overcomes key gaps by revealing AM fungi's pivotal role in stabilizing communities through sustaining common species stability.
气候变化正在改变中亚干旱地区的降水模式，破坏沙漠生态系统的稳定。丛枝菌根（AM）真菌是与大多数植物形成共生关系的关键土壤微生物，对维持生态系统稳定至关重要，但其调节单个植物物种以维持群落稳定性的机制仍不清楚。我们在古尔班通古特沙漠进行了为期5年的原位实验，测试在降水增加的情况下AM真菌如何影响沙漠植物群落的稳定性。采用随机区组设计，设置了三种处理——对照（CK）、增加降水（W）和使用苯菌灵杀菌剂的降水处理（BW）——我们监测了植物群落动态。我们发现，降水增加和AM真菌都改变了植物群落结构，但不影响多样性。降水提高了地上净初级生产力（ANPP）和密度，通过优势物种（如 ）增强了群落稳定性，支持质量比假说。AM真菌通过增加ANPP和增强降水增加条件下常见物种的稳定性进一步稳定了群落，而稀有物种的贡献也不可忽视，这与从属保险假说相符。总体而言，我们的研究阐明了降水增加和AM真菌如何在物种水平上调节植物群落稳定性。具体而言，它通过揭示AM真菌在通过维持常见物种稳定性来稳定群落方面的关键作用，克服了关键差距。
