Vegetation degradation dominates over elevation in structuring fungal communities in alpine meadows

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Soil Science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Alpine meadows are sensitive ecosystems crucial for biogeochemical cycling.
• Understanding ecosystem degradation impacts on belowground communities is vital for conservation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of meadow degradation and elevation on soil fungal communities in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
• To identify key environmental drivers of fungal community shifts.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of degraded and intact alpine meadows at two elevations (3,700 m and 4,300 m).
• High-throughput sequencing for fungal community profiling.
• Redundancy analysis (RDA) to link fungal composition with environmental parameters.

Main Results:

• Soil organic matter (SOM) decreased with degradation; soil water content varied with elevation.
• Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Basidiomycota were dominant fungal phyla.
• Edaphic factors, particularly SOM, explained significant fungal variation (71.3%).
• Degradation increased fungal diversity but reduced network complexity.
• Fungal communities were more sensitive to degradation than elevation.

Conclusions:

• Meadow degradation drives substantial changes in soil fungal communities and network structure.
• Soil organic matter is a critical factor influencing fungal composition.
• Monitoring fungal network properties can serve as an early warning for ecosystem degradation.
• Conservation of SOM is essential for alpine meadow restoration.