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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbiological Chemistry and Geomicrobiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1485069

Effects of rocky desertification on soil bacterial community in alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Provisionally accepted
Shan Li Shan Li 1,2Huakun Zhou Huakun Zhou 2*Wenying Wang Wenying Wang 2,3Haze Ade Haze Ade 2Zhonghua Zhang Zhonghua Zhang 2Li Ma Li Ma 2Qiang Zhang Qiang Zhang 4Jingjing Wei Jingjing Wei 1Hongye Su Hongye Su 2Ruimin Qin Ruimin Qin 2Zhengchen Shi Zhengchen Shi 2Xue Hu Xue Hu 2Faliang Wu Faliang Wu 4
  • 1 School of Geographical Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, Qinghai Province, China
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Xining, China
  • 3 College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, Qinghai Province, China
  • 4 College of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Qinghai University, Xining, Qinghai Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The makeup of soil microbial communities may serve as a crucial predictor of the alpine grassland ecosystem. Climate change and human disturbance have resulted in intensified ecosystem degradation, such as grassland rocky desertification, which may modify the structures and composition of the microorganisms. However, little is known about the effects of rocky desertification on soil microbial communities of soil. Here, we investigated five different layers of rocky desertification grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Platea, including nil rock desertification (NRD); potential rocky desertification (PRD); light rocky desertification (LRD); moderate rocky desertification (MRD); and severe rocky desertification (SRD), we compared soil bacterial community with soil physiochemical properties in different rocky desertification conditions. The result showed that rocky desertification significantly altered the physiochemical properties of the soil but did not significantly affect the bacterial community microbial abundance and diversity. At the same time as rocky desertification increased, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), alkali hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) decreased significantly, while soil pH, total phosphorus (TP); and total potassium (TK) increased. Redundancy analysis revealed that pH, AK, TP, and SOC are key factors influencing soil bacterial communities. Our finding provides basic information and scientific reference for the restoration of the rocky desertification of alpine grasslands.

    Keywords: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau1, alpine grassland2, rocky desertification3, soil properties4, soil bacterial community5

    Received: 23 Aug 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Zhou, Wang, Ade, Zhang, Ma, Zhang, Wei, Su, Qin, Shi, Hu and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Huakun Zhou, Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology in Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Xining, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.