Conversion of steppe to cropland increases spatial heterogeneity of soil functional genes.

ABSTRACT: The microbiome function responses to land use change are important for the long-term prediction and management of soil ecological functions under human influence. However, it has remains uncertain how the biogeographic patterns of soil functional composition change when transitioning from natural steppe soils (NS) to agricultural soils (AS). We collected soil samples from adjacent pairs of AS and NS across 900 km of Mollisol areas in northeast China, and the soil functional composition was characterized using shotgun sequencing. AS had higher functional alpha-diversity indices with respect to KO trait richness and a higher Shannon index than NS. The distance-decay slopes of functional gene composition were steeper in AS than in NS along both spatial and environmental gradients. Land-use co

SUBMITTER: Liu J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10579271 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature