Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe
Grazing can alter the physicochemical properties of soil and quickly influence the composition of microbial communities. However, the effects of grazing intensity on fungal community composition in different soil depth remain unclear. On the Inner Mongolia Plateau, we studied the effects of grazing...
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2025-01-01
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| author | Xiangjian Tu Paul C. Struik Shixian Sun Zhang Wenbo Yong Zhang Ke Jin Zhen Wang |
| author_facet | Xiangjian Tu Paul C. Struik Shixian Sun Zhang Wenbo Yong Zhang Ke Jin Zhen Wang |
| author_sort | Xiangjian Tu |
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| description | Grazing can alter the physicochemical properties of soil and quickly influence the composition of microbial communities. However, the effects of grazing intensity on fungal community composition in different soil depth remain unclear. On the Inner Mongolia Plateau, we studied the effects of grazing intensity treatments including no grazing (NG), light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG), heavy grazing (HG), and over grazing (OG) on the physicochemical properties and fungal community composition of surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) soil layers. The α-diversity of fungi in subsurface soil decreased under the influence of grazing. The relative abundance of Ascomycota in the subsoil was higher than that in the topsoil, while the situation of Basidiomycota was the opposite. This was caused by the differences in the soil carbon (C) environment for the growth of oligotrophic and copiotrophic fungi. In the subsoil, grazing affected nutrient contents such as soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN), resulting in significantly lower relative abundance of Ortierellomycota under LG, HG, and OG than in the NG. HG showed much higher relative abundance of Glomeromycota. Results of a multiple regression tree (MRT) analysis revealed that TN and nitrate nitrogen affected the fungal α-diversity in top- and subsoils, respectively; the main driving factor regulating fungal community changes was soil water content (SWC) in the topsoil, while it was ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in the subsoil. The results of our study indicate that grazing changes the soil environment by changing TN, SWC, nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and affects the diversity and community structure of soil fungi. This provides empirical support for coping with the impact of grazing on soil microbiomes in desert steppes. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-03b7d6c22d99469f92610e343907090f2025-01-08T15:05:30ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592025-01-0113e1879110.7717/peerj.18791Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppeXiangjian Tu0Paul C. Struik1Shixian Sun2Zhang Wenbo3Yong Zhang4Ke Jin5Zhen Wang6Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Grassland Resources and Ecology in the Yellow River Deltar, College of Grassland Science, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong, ChinaDepartment of Plant Sciences, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Provincie Gelderland, NetherlandsInstitute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, ChinaInstitute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, ChinaInstitute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, ChinaInstitute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, ChinaInstitute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, ChinaGrazing can alter the physicochemical properties of soil and quickly influence the composition of microbial communities. However, the effects of grazing intensity on fungal community composition in different soil depth remain unclear. On the Inner Mongolia Plateau, we studied the effects of grazing intensity treatments including no grazing (NG), light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG), heavy grazing (HG), and over grazing (OG) on the physicochemical properties and fungal community composition of surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) soil layers. The α-diversity of fungi in subsurface soil decreased under the influence of grazing. The relative abundance of Ascomycota in the subsoil was higher than that in the topsoil, while the situation of Basidiomycota was the opposite. This was caused by the differences in the soil carbon (C) environment for the growth of oligotrophic and copiotrophic fungi. In the subsoil, grazing affected nutrient contents such as soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN), resulting in significantly lower relative abundance of Ortierellomycota under LG, HG, and OG than in the NG. HG showed much higher relative abundance of Glomeromycota. Results of a multiple regression tree (MRT) analysis revealed that TN and nitrate nitrogen affected the fungal α-diversity in top- and subsoils, respectively; the main driving factor regulating fungal community changes was soil water content (SWC) in the topsoil, while it was ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in the subsoil. The results of our study indicate that grazing changes the soil environment by changing TN, SWC, nitrate nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and affects the diversity and community structure of soil fungi. This provides empirical support for coping with the impact of grazing on soil microbiomes in desert steppes.https://peerj.com/articles/18791.pdfAlpha diversityFungal communitiesSoil depthStocking rate |
| spellingShingle | Xiangjian Tu Paul C. Struik Shixian Sun Zhang Wenbo Yong Zhang Ke Jin Zhen Wang Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe PeerJ Alpha diversity Fungal communities Soil depth Stocking rate |
| title | Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| title_full | Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| title_fullStr | Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| title_short | Responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| title_sort | responses of fungal communities at different soil depths to grazing intensity in a desert steppe |
| topic | Alpha diversity Fungal communities Soil depth Stocking rate |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/18791.pdf |
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