Tao Yue, Li Yan, Fu Yaojia, She Sijia, Wang Xinyue, Hou Lianghui, Chen Chaoqi, Chen Lanzhou
Hubei Key Laboratory of Biomass-Resources Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, School of Resource & Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Apr 23;26(9):3989. doi: 10.3390/ijms26093989.
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) play a pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem stability and soil fertility in arid and semi-arid regions. However, the biogeographical differences in soil functional composition between cyanobacterial BSCs (C-BSCs) and moss BSCs (M-BSCs), particularly how environmental changes affect nutrient cycling strategies and microbial community functions, remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated BSCs across aridity gradients (semi-humid, semi-arid, and arid regions) in China, focusing on carbon and nitrogen cycling pathways, enzyme activities, and nutrient acquisition strategies. It was found that aridity and BSC type had significant effects on the functional characteristics of microorganisms. This was demonstrated by significant differences in various soil microbial activities including enzyme activities and carbon and nitrogen nutrient cycling. With increasing aridity, C-BSCs exhibited reduced carbon cycling activity but enhanced nitrogen cycling processes, whereas M-BSCs displayed diminished activity in both carbon and nitrogen cycling. These divergent strategies were linked to soil properties such as pH and organic carbon content, with C-BSCs adapting through nitrogen-related processes (e.g., , ) and M-BSCs relying on C fixation and degradation. These findings provide novel insights into the functional gene diversity of BSCs across different regions, offering valuable references for ecological restoration in arid areas. Specifically, our study highlights the potential of BSC inoculation for carbon and nitrogen enrichment in arid regions, with implications for climate-resilient restoration practices.
生物土壤结皮（BSCs）在维持干旱和半干旱地区的生态系统稳定性和土壤肥力方面发挥着关键作用。然而，蓝藻生物土壤结皮（C-BSCs）和苔藓生物土壤结皮（M-BSCs）之间土壤功能组成的生物地理差异，特别是环境变化如何影响养分循环策略和微生物群落功能，仍知之甚少。在本研究中，我们调查了中国不同干旱梯度（半湿润、半干旱和干旱地区）的生物土壤结皮，重点关注碳和氮循环途径、酶活性以及养分获取策略。研究发现，干旱程度和生物土壤结皮类型对微生物的功能特性有显著影响。这在各种土壤微生物活动（包括酶活性以及碳和氮养分循环）的显著差异中得到了体现。随着干旱程度的增加，C-BSCs的碳循环活性降低，但氮循环过程增强，而M-BSCs在碳和氮循环方面的活性均降低。这些不同的策略与土壤性质（如pH值和有机碳含量）有关，C-BSCs通过与氮相关的过程（如 ， ）进行适应，而M-BSCs则依赖于碳固定和降解。这些发现为不同地区生物土壤结皮的功能基因多样性提供了新的见解，为干旱地区的生态恢复提供了有价值的参考。具体而言，我们的研究突出了接种生物土壤结皮在干旱地区进行碳和氮富集的潜力，对气候适应型恢复实践具有重要意义。
