Response of soil bacterial community characteristics to alpine meadow degradation

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to clarify the response of soil bacterial species composition, pattern, and functional structure to a range of grassland degradation in alpine meadows.Methods: Degraded alpine meadows at five stages (including non-degraded, light-degraded, moderate-degraded, severe-degraded, and extreme-degraded) were selected in 2017 by the classification standard in the Three-River-Source.Four different plots at each degraded stages were set as replications, and the area of each plot is about 80 m 2 .Soil microbial characteristics were analyzed by high-throughput gene detection, and the soil physical and chemical properties were analyzed by conventional methods.Results: Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia were the dominant bacteria in alpine meadow soil, accounting for 16%-18%、9%-12%、12%-14%、23%-29% and 11%-12%of the total soil bacteria abundance, respectively.The soil bacterial species compositions changed substantially with increasing •研究报告•