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Spatial variations of bacterial communities associated with biological soil crusts along a climatic gradient in alpine grassland ecosystems

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Abstract

Background and aims

The ability of biological soil crusts (BSCs) to improve soil microenvironments is mainly due to microorganisms that form an integral component of the BSCs. We aimed to investigate the changes in bacterial communities within BSCs along climate gradients and explored factors and ecological processes that drive these variations.

Methods

Algal and lichen BSCs were sampled along an aridity gradient in alpine grasslands from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Bacterial communities in BSCs were determined using high-throughput sequencing, and soil beneath the BSCs (0–5 cm) was collected for macro-nutrient determination.

Results

Algal BSCs consisted of more diverse bacterial communities than did lichen BSCs. Bacterial communities were significantly affected by the aridity index. With an increase in aridity index, bacterial diversity increased in algal BSCs but decreased in lichen BSCs. Additionally, lichen BSCs’ bacterial communities were different from those of algal BSCs, especially in wetter areas, where Burkholderia dominated in lichen BSCs, but not in algal BSCs. Lichen BSCs’ bacterial composition correlated significantly with soil pH and total nitrogen content, however that was not the case with algal BSCs. Stochastic processes governed the spatial variations of bacterial communities in lichen BSCs, which was different from the equivalent importance of stochastic and deterministic processes in algal BSCs.

Conclusions

Changes in BSCs associated bacterial communities along an aridity gradient were different between algal and lichen BSCs. Additionally, stochastic processes were much more important for lichen BSCs than algal BSCs in shaping spatial variations of bacterial communities.

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Data availability

The datasets are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [31971746, 32171685], Qinghai Province Innovation Platform Construction Special Project [2020-ZJ-Y02], Key Scientific and Technological Special Projects of Qinghai Province [2018-NK-A2], and Second Batch of Forestry Grassland Ecological Protection and Restoration Funds in 2020: Biodiversity Protection Project of Qilian Mountain National Park in the Qinghai Area [QHTX-2021-009]. Qilian Mountain National Park Qinghai Area Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, No. 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100193, China

    Xiaoting Wei, Fuwen Qin, Bing Han, Miao Liu & Xinqing Shao

  2. Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology of Cold Area in Qinghai province, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China

    Huakun Zhou & Xinqing Shao

  3. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Adaptive Management on Alpine Grassland, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China

    Xinqing Shao

Authors
  1. Xiaoting Wei
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  2. Fuwen Qin
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  3. Bing Han
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  4. Huakun Zhou
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  5. Miao Liu
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  6. Xinqing Shao
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Sampling was performed by [Xiaoting Wei], [Fuwen Qin] and [Xinqing Shao]. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by [Xiaoting Wei], [Bing Han] and [Huakun Zhou]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Xiaoting Wei]. The revision of the draft was performed by [Miao Liu], and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Miao Liu or Xinqing Shao.

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Wei, X., Qin, F., Han, B. et al. Spatial variations of bacterial communities associated with biological soil crusts along a climatic gradient in alpine grassland ecosystems. Plant Soil 480, 493–506 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05595-y

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