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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Functional Plant Ecology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1423536

Relationship between root system-soil C:N:P and soil microbial diversity at different evolutionary stages of Caragana tibetica scrub in arid desert grassland, Northern China

Provisionally accepted
Min Han Min Han Yumei Liang Yumei Liang Yong Gao Yong Gao Wenyuan Yang Wenyuan Yang *Yuefeng Guo Yuefeng Guo *
  • Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

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

    Scrub root systems play a crucial role in preventing soil erosion and nutrient loss.However, the effects of the root system configuration on soil nutrient dynamics and microbial changes at various evolutionary stages remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the relationship between soil physical and chemical properties and the diversity of bacteria and fungi throughout the evolutionary stages of the scrub root systems.This was achieved through a combination of whole-root excavation and root tracing techniques. The results indicated that root diameter was the main factor contributing to the continuous increase in carbon (C) : phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) : P ratios as the scrub sand pile developed. The soil organic carbon (SOC), total soil nitrogen (TN), and total soil phosphorus (TP) contents in the soil in the four evolutionary stages were the highest during the developmental stage, but the change in TP content was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Partial least squares path modeling and redundancy analysis (RDA) analyses indicated that root system stoichiometric C and N contents were positively correlated with microbial diversity (R 2 = 0.85). There was no correlation between the evolutionary stage and soil nutrient TN, whereas soil nutrient TN was negatively correlated with microbial diversity (R 2 = -0.92). These findings elucidate the relationship between the evolutionary stage of root chemical measurement characteristics, soil elements and microorganisms as well as their subsequent effects on root elemental composition and microbial diversity. This study enhances the current understanding of plant-soil interactions in desert steppe ecosystems.

    Keywords: Caragana tibetica scrub, Root structure, Root-Soil C:N:P, Ecochemical measurements, Soil microbial diversity

    Received: 26 Apr 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Han, Liang, Gao, Yang and Guo. 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:
    Wenyuan Yang, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
    Yuefeng Guo, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

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