Soil Abiotic Properties and Plant Functional Traits Mediate Associations Between Soil Microbial and Plant Communities During a Secondary Forest Succession on the Loess Plateau.

ABSTRACT: In the context of secondary forest succession, aboveground-belowground interactions are known to affect the dynamics and functional structure of plant communities. However, the links between soil microbial communities, soil abiotic properties, plant functional traits in the case of semi-arid and arid ecosystems, are unclear. In this study, we investigated the changes in soil microbial species diversity and community composition, and the corresponding effects of soil abiotic properties and plant functional traits, during a ≥150-year secondary forest succession on the Loess Plateau, which represents a typical semi-arid ecosystem in China. Plant community fragments were assigned to six successional stages: 1-4, 4-8, 8-15, 15-50, 50-100, and 100-150 years after abandonment. Bacterial and funga

SUBMITTER: Chai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6499021 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature