Great gerbil burrowing-induced microbial diversity shapes the rhizosphere soil microenvironments of Haloxylon ammodendron in temperate deserts.

ABSTRACT: In the Gurbantunggut Desert of northwest China, the main habitat of Rhombomys opimus (great gerbil) is under the thickets of Haloxylon ammodendron, the main construction species. In the long-term coexistence, continuous gerbil activities (burrowing, defecating, and gnawing) limited the growth of H. ammodendron, affected the root microenvironment under the H. ammodendron forest, and weakened the desert ecosystem. However, there is a lack of general understanding about the response of desert soil microhabitats to such gerbil disturbance. Accordingly, this study examined the effects of different intensities of gerbil disturbance (none, mild, moderate, or severe disturbances) on soil nutrients content and used high-throughput sequencing to explore the change in dive

SUBMITTER: Dang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9427191 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature