Ecotone-Driven Vegetation Transitions Reshape Soil Nitrogen Cycling Functional Genes in Black Soils of Northeast China.

ABSTRACT: Forest-wetland ecotones are transitional ecosystems characterized by pronounced hydrological and biogeochemical heterogeneity, yet the microbial mechanisms regulating nutrient cycling in these zones remain insufficiently understood. This study investigated how vegetation transitions across a forest-wetland ecotone in the black-soil region of Northeast China shape soil microbial communities and nitrogen-cycling functions. Soils were collected from four vegetation types: mixed forest (MF), coniferous forest (CF), wetland edge (WE), and natural wetland (NW). Quantitative PCR was used to quantify key nitrogen-cycling functional genes (nifH, amoA, amoB, norB, nosZ), and PICRUSt2 was applied to predict microbial functional potentials. Forest soils (MF and CF) e

SUBMITTER: Ding J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12649909 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature