Aims

Canopy gaps, as small-scale disturbances in forest ecosystems, are critical for maintaining soil nutrient cycling and microbial communities. Picea schrenkiana forests are important ecological barriers and valuable biological resources in the Tianshan Mountains, investigating the effects of gaps disturbances on their ecosystems has great theoretical and practical significance. We aimed at determining the effects of canopy gaps disturbance on soil physicochemical properties and structure and function of microbial communities.

Methods

Non-gaps (NG) as a control, employed high-throughput sequencing technology, combined with R software, hierarchical partitioning analysis, redundancy analysis, and correlation analysis. Investigated soil physicochemical properties, microbial community composition, diversity, structure, and function, and their influencing factors in small gaps (GS), medium gaps (GM), and large gaps (GL).

Results

Compared to NG, soil physicochemical properties, and bacterial and fungal community diversity significantly decreased from GS to GL, but pH and dominant phyla abundance exhibited fluctuating. Functional groups abundance increased in GS and decreased in GM and GL. Topological attributes were higher in bacterial networks than fungal networks, with both dominant and rare taxa coexisting as modules, but network interactions were reduced. Additionally, changes in soil carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, pH, soil water content, and soil carbon and nitrogen significantly affected the composition, diversity, structure, and function of bacterial and fungal communities, respectively.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the negative effects of canopy gap disturbances on soil physicochemical properties drive structural and functional changes in microbial communities. This study provides important information for the conservation and management of Picea schrenkiana forest ecosystems.

中文翻译：

---

林冠间隙对雪岭云杉纯林土壤理化性质及微生物群落结构与功能的负面影响

 目标

冠层间隙作为森林生态系统的小规模干扰，对于维持土壤养分循环和微生物群落至关重要。雪岭云杉林是天山地区重要的生态屏障和宝贵的生物资源，研究林隙干扰对其生态系统的影响具有重要的理论和现实意义。我们的目的是确定冠层间隙干扰对土壤理化性质以及微生物群落结构和功能的影响。

 方法

以无间隙（NG）作为对照，采用高通量测序技术，结合R软件，进行层次划分分析、冗余分析、相关性分析。调查小间隙（GS）、中间隙（GM）和大间隙（GL）土壤理化性质、微生物群落组成、多样性、结构和功能及其影响因素。

 结果

与NG相比，从GS到GL，土壤理化性质、细菌和真菌群落多样性显着下降，但pH值和优势门丰度呈现波动。 GS 中的官能团丰度增加，GM 和 GL 中的官能团丰度减少。细菌网络的拓扑属性高于真菌网络，优势类群和稀有类群作为模块共存，但网络相互作用减少。此外，土壤碳、氮、磷、pH、土壤含水量以及土壤碳和氮的变化分别显着影响细菌和真菌群落的组成、多样性、结构和功能。

 结论

我们的结果表明，冠层间隙干扰对土壤理化性质的负面影响会驱动微生物群落的结构和功能变化。本研究为雪岭云杉森林生态系统的保护和管理提供了重要信息。