Threshold-dependent plant-microbe interactions shape soil microbial life-history strategies and stability across an elevational gradientOA
Despite growing recognition of nonlinear plant-microbe relationships,the ecological thresholds at which plant multidimensional diversity triggers shifts in microbial life-history strategies and community stability remain poorly understood.Along a subalpine elevational gradient,we integrated plant taxonomic,functional,and phylogenetic diversity(PD)with soil microbial sequencing and employed ensemble machine learning and generalized additive mixed models(GAMMs)to quantify nonlinear and threshold responses.Bacterial commu-nities were dominated by K-strategists(oligotrophs)and exhibited unimodal stability patterns across elevation,with both life-history strategies and community stability primarily regulated by plant functional or PD.In contrast,fungal communities displayed a gradual but incomplete shift toward K-strategists at higher elevations,while community stability increased with elevation.Fungal life-history strategies were predominantly structured by elevation-associated environmental filtering,whereas their stability was positively associated with plant functional diversity,indicating a partial decoupling between compositional strategies and temporal stability.Both microbial domains displayed pronounced nonlinear and threshold-dependent responses.Intermediate levels of plant functional attributes promoted bacterial K-strategist dominance and stability,whereas extreme trait values or nutrient enrichment reduced stability.Fungal responses were characterized by elevation-driven threshold transitions consistent with strong abiotic filtering.Variance partitioning further revealed asym-metric controls:Plant multidimensional diversity explained more variation in bacterial strategies and stability,whereas fungal strategies were more strongly constrained by abiotic factors.Together,these findings demon-strate that soil microbial assembly along environmental gradients is governed by domain-specific and threshold-driven mechanisms rather than continuous linear shifts,with important implications for predicting belowground ecosystem responses to global change.
Quan Zhou;Yunlong Cai;Yarui Chen;Lianhao Zhou;Man Hu;Hui Zhang;Quanfa Zhang;Shengjun Wu;Quanchao Zeng
State Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,ChinaUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops,Wuhan Botanical Garden,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Wuhan 430074,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,ChinaState Key Laboratory of Lake and Watershed Science for Water Security,Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chongqing 400714,China
农业科技
Plant biodiversityPlant functional traitsMicrobial life-history strategiesMicrobial community stabilityElevational gradient
《Forest Ecosystems》 2026 (3)
P.729-739,11
supported by the Geological Disaster Patterns and Mitigation Strategies Under River-Reservoir Hydrodynamics in the Three Gorges Reservoir Fluctuation Zone,Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Water Resources(5000002024CC20004)the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing(Nos.CSTB2024NSCQ-MSX0803 and CSTB2024NSCQQCXMX0092)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.42501069 and 42277351).
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