Biocrusts Mediate the Niche Distribution and Diversity of Ammonia-Oxidizing Microorganisms in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Northwestern China.

ABSTRACT: Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) play pivotal ecological roles in regulating nitrogen cycling within desert ecosystems. While acknowledging the essential role played by ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in nitrogen transformation, there remains a paucity of understanding concerning how disturbances to biocrusts impact the diversity and spatial distribution patterns among ammonia oxidizer communities within temperate deserts. This investigation delved into assessing how 4 years' worth of removing biocrust influenced niche differentiation between nitrifying archaea and bacteria while also examining its effects on shaping community structures of predominant ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) within the Gurbantunggut Desert soils. Despite notable variations in abundance of ammonia-oxidizing micr

SUBMITTER: Rong X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11588837 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature