Moderate time grazing in the warm season maintained the diversity and complexity of soil microorganisms by regulating nutrient cycling and decomposition function
Zhuo Liu, Yan Shen, Guohong Wang, Huiping Li, Jingli Ma, Yao Zhou, Wen Li, Hongbin Ma
Abstract
Abstract The soil microbial community plays an important role in maintaining the functional balance of grassland ecosystems. However, it is unclear how soil microbial diversity and complexity change in the desert steppe under different grazing times and what ecosystem factors influence this change. To address these issues, we investigated how different grazing times affect soil microbial diversity, complexity and ecosystem function in the desert steppe using 6‐year no grazing (FG), shortened time grazing (DEG) and traditional time grazing (TG) experiments in the desert steppe. The diversity and complexity of soil microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) increased under TG, and the collinear network connections were strengthened. Solirubrobacter and Hohenbuehelia are the key groups under TG. Furthermore, the similarity of the soil microbial community increased with the extension of the grazing period. The decomposition and nutrient cycling functions had a greater impact on the abundance of soil bacteria and fungi. Based on the structural equation model, the main driver of soil microbial diversity and network complexity in grazing time management was the decomposition function (e.g. BG, CHB, ALP). In general, by improving the nutrient cycle and organic decomposition functions, moderate grazing time can boost soil microorganism diversity and complexity, ultimately contributing to the ecosystem multifunctionality. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.