Biodiv Sci ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (5): 26028.  DOI: 10.17520/biods.2026028  cstr: 32101.14.biods.2026028

• Original Papers: Microbial Diversity • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Response of soil arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to precipitation changes in the desert steppe

Rong Guo1,2, Xudong Wu3,4, Yu Zhang2, Ruihong Kang2, Yifan Wang2, Zhanjun Wang3,4, Qi Jiang3,4, Hongqian Yu3,4, Kun Ma1,2,4,*()   

  1. 1 School of Life Sciences, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
    2 Key Laboratory for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Northwestern China of Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
    3 Institute of Forests and Grassland Ecology, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan 750002, China
    4 Observation and Research Station for Temperate Grassland Ecosystems in Agro-Pastoral Transitional Zone of Ningxia, Yanchi, Ningxia 751500, China
  • Received:2026-01-22 Accepted:2026-03-30 Online:2026-05-20 Published:2026-07-01
  • Contact: Kun Ma
  • Supported by:
    The Key Technologies for Conservation of Forest and Grassland Resources and Enhancement of Ecological Functions in Arid and Semi-arid Regions of Ningxia(NGSB-2021-14)

Abstract:

Aims: Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are key plant symbionts in terrestrial ecosystems. Investigating the responses of AM fungal communities to precipitation changes and their relationships with vegetation and soil factors is of great theoretical importance for understanding the stability of desert steppe ecosystems.
Methods: A precipitation manipulation experiment was conducted in Yanchi County, Ningxia, China, from 2019 to 2021 using a completely randomized design. Five precipitation treatments were established: D50 (natural precipitation -50%), D25 (natural precipitation -25%), CK (natural precipitation), I25 (natural precipitation +25%), and I50 (natural precipitation +50%). Based on Illumina high-throughput sequencing combined with Mantel analysis, random forest analysis, and partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM), we examined the effects of altered precipitation regimes on the diversity, richness, and community composition of soil AM fungi in the desert steppe ecosystems and identified their main driving factors.
Results: Plant cover, biomass, and Shannon diversity index of the desert steppe were sensitive to precipitation changes. Compared with CK, the D50 treatment significantly reduced the Shannon index, Sobs index, ACE index and Chao1 index of AM fungi by 31.64%, 53.32%, 62.41% and 58.77%, respectively. However, the relative abundances of dominant AM fungal genera did not differ significantly among precipitation treatments. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis indicated that precipitation gradients significantly affected AM fungal community composition. Random forest analyses revealed that plant diversity and cover were the primary determinants of AM fungal diversity, AM fungal richness was mainly regulated by soil pH, and AM fungal community composition was primarily influenced by precipitation and NO3--N. The PLS-PM results further showed that precipitation indirectly affected AM fungal community composition by altering soil moisture, indirectly increased AM fungal diversity through plant communities, and indirectly increased AM fungal richness through changes in soil pH.
Conclusion: Precipitation changes regulate the coupling relationships between vegetation and soil factors, thereby driving shifts in the diversity, richness and composition of AM fungal communities in desert steppe ecosystems. These findings reveal that mycorrhizal symbiosis is highly sensitive to precipitation variation, offering new insights into how climate change regulates desert steppe ecosystems.

Key words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, precipitation gradient, plant communities, soil properties, desert steppe, global climate change