Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow
The subalpine grassland ecosystem is sensitive to climatic changes. Previous studies investigated the effects of warming on grassland ecosystems at a single altitude, with little information about the response of subalpine meadows to warming along altitude gradients. This study aimed to evaluate the...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| author | Jing Yin Dandan Yuan Jing Lu He Li Shuzheng Luo Jianhua Zhang Xingjia Xiang |
| author_facet | Jing Yin Dandan Yuan Jing Lu He Li Shuzheng Luo Jianhua Zhang Xingjia Xiang |
| author_sort | Jing Yin |
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| description | The subalpine grassland ecosystem is sensitive to climatic changes. Previous studies investigated the effects of warming on grassland ecosystems at a single altitude, with little information about the response of subalpine meadows to warming along altitude gradients. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of warming on aboveground grass, belowground soil properties, and fungal community along altitude gradients in the subalpine meadow of Mount Wutai using the high-throughput sequencing method. Warming reduced the restriction of low temperatures on the growth of subalpine grass, resulting in increasing grass biomass, community height, and coverage. More grass biomass led to higher soil organic carbon resources, which primarily affected fungal community composition following warming. Warming might induce more stochastic processes of fungal community assembly, increasing fungal diversity at low altitudes. In contrast, warming triggered more deterministic processes to decrease fungal diversity at medium and high altitudes. Warming might improve the efficiency of soil nutrient cycling and organic matter turnover by increasing the relative abundance of soil saprotrophs and improving fungal network connectivity. The relative abundance of certain grass pathogens significantly increased following warming, thereby posing potential risks to the sustainability and stability of subalpine meadow ecosystems. Overall, this study comprehensively evaluated the response of the subalpine meadow ecosystems to warming along altitude gradients, clarifying that warming changes soil fungal community composition at different altitudes. The long-term monitoring of pathogen-related shifts should be conducted in subalpine meadow ecosystem following warming. This study provided significant scientific insights into the impact of future climatic changes on subalpine ecosystems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-46161e9a2f5b4355a7fe1295f79a2abe |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-2607 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| spelling | doaj-art-46161e9a2f5b4355a7fe1295f79a2abe2025-08-20T02:01:28ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-12-011212252710.3390/microorganisms12122527Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine MeadowJing Yin0Dandan Yuan1Jing Lu2He Li3Shuzheng Luo4Jianhua Zhang5Xingjia Xiang6School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaSchool of Geography, Geomatics and Planning, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou 221116, ChinaDepartment of Biology, Xinzhou Normal University, Xinzhou 034000, ChinaDepartment of Biology, Xinzhou Normal University, Xinzhou 034000, ChinaSchool of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaThe subalpine grassland ecosystem is sensitive to climatic changes. Previous studies investigated the effects of warming on grassland ecosystems at a single altitude, with little information about the response of subalpine meadows to warming along altitude gradients. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of warming on aboveground grass, belowground soil properties, and fungal community along altitude gradients in the subalpine meadow of Mount Wutai using the high-throughput sequencing method. Warming reduced the restriction of low temperatures on the growth of subalpine grass, resulting in increasing grass biomass, community height, and coverage. More grass biomass led to higher soil organic carbon resources, which primarily affected fungal community composition following warming. Warming might induce more stochastic processes of fungal community assembly, increasing fungal diversity at low altitudes. In contrast, warming triggered more deterministic processes to decrease fungal diversity at medium and high altitudes. Warming might improve the efficiency of soil nutrient cycling and organic matter turnover by increasing the relative abundance of soil saprotrophs and improving fungal network connectivity. The relative abundance of certain grass pathogens significantly increased following warming, thereby posing potential risks to the sustainability and stability of subalpine meadow ecosystems. Overall, this study comprehensively evaluated the response of the subalpine meadow ecosystems to warming along altitude gradients, clarifying that warming changes soil fungal community composition at different altitudes. The long-term monitoring of pathogen-related shifts should be conducted in subalpine meadow ecosystem following warming. This study provided significant scientific insights into the impact of future climatic changes on subalpine ecosystems.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2527subalpine meadowwarmingaltitude gradientsfungal community |
| spellingShingle | Jing Yin Dandan Yuan Jing Lu He Li Shuzheng Luo Jianhua Zhang Xingjia Xiang Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow Microorganisms subalpine meadow warming altitude gradients fungal community |
| title | Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow |
| title_full | Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow |
| title_short | Effect of Warming on Soil Fungal Community Along Altitude Gradients in a Subalpine Meadow |
| title_sort | effect of warming on soil fungal community along altitude gradients in a subalpine meadow |
| topic | subalpine meadow warming altitude gradients fungal community |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2527 |
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