Asynchronous response and network reorganization of soil micro-food web diversity under tropical land use change

doi:10.17520/biods.2026008

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: Biodiversity loss and functional degradation caused by tropical land use change have attracted widespread attention. However, a systematic understanding of the response mechanisms, network topological adaptation strategies, and cross-trophic linkage dynamics of belowground multi-trophic soil micro-food webs (bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes) remains lacking. This study aimed to reveal the response patterns of each trophic level in belowground soil micro-food webs to intensive land use, their network structural reorganization strategies, and the underlying environmental driving mechanisms.
Methods: In Xishuangbanna, four typical land use types representing an increasing gradient of disturbance (primary forest, secondary forest, open habitat, and rubber plantation) were selected. Based on 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technologies, community structures across four trophic levels were investigated, and a systemic study was conducted combining co-occurrence network analysis (evaluating complexity and modularity) with global Mantel tests.
Results: (1) The micro-food web exhibited significant asynchronous responses, where bacterial diversity remained high in rubber plantations, whereas the diversity of higher-trophic protozoa decreased significantly with intensifying disturbance, and although nematode diversity remained stable, the omnivorous genus Oxydirus was not detected in secondary forest and rubber plantations. (2) Network reorganization strategies diverged, with lower trophic levels (bacteria and fungi) maintaining stability under intensifying disturbance by increasing modularity, whereas soil protozoa networks were markedly simplified (protozoan connections lost nearly 80%), and the nematode network in rubber plantations densified with connections becoming highly concentrated on a few nodes. (3) Environmental driving mechanisms underwent severe decoupling, where micro-food web assembly in primary forests was dominated by soil physical structure (particle size distribution and porosity), but with the degradation of soil physical conditions in rubber plantations (clay loss and total porosity decline), the assembly of higher-trophic communities became significantly decoupled from environmental factors, shifting the dominant driving force from deterministic environmental filtering to ecological drift.
Conclusion: This study emphasizes that the degradation of soil physical microhabitats is the key factor triggering the simplification of higher-trophic networks, indicates the limitations of relying solely on microorganisms to assess ecosystem health, and provides a scientific basis for ecological restoration and multi-trophic biodiversity conservation in tropical plantations.

Key words: land use change, soil micro-food web, network analysis, asynchronous response, rubber plantations, Xishuangbanna, multi-trophic levels

Qihui Gui, Guorui Xu. Asynchronous response and network reorganization of soil micro-food web diversity under tropical land use change[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2026, 34(7): 26008.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2026008

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2026/V34/I7/26008

Figures/Tables 8

Table 1 Soil physicochemical properties (mean ± SD) under different land use types

土壤性质 Soil property	原始林 Primary forest (PF)	次生林 Secondary forest (SF)	开阔生境 Open habitat (OB)	橡胶林 Rubber plantation (XJ)
pH	5.27 ± 0.41^b	5.28 ± 0.99^b	6.32 ± 0.97^a	4.62 ± 0.25^b
土壤有机碳 Soil organic carbon (g/kg)	19.69 ± 3.38^b	24.78 ± 2.84^a	9.44 ± 3.80^c	15.85 ± 3.17^b
全氮 Total nitrogen (g/kg)	1.93 ± 0.32^ab	2.38 ± 0.47^a	0.96 ± 0.40^c	1.51 ± 0.33^b
全磷 Total phosphorus (g/kg)	0.49 ± 0.11^a	0.44 ± 0.16^a	0.32 ± 0.13^a	0.47 ± 0.29^a
全钾 Total potassium (g/kg)	11.00 ± 1.65^a	9.04 ± 2.41^a	10.24 ± 2.78^a	11.31 ± 6.10^a
土壤容重 Soil bulk density (g/cm³)	1.29 ± 0.12^b	1.09 ± 0.16^c	1.48 ± 0.13^a	1.32 ± 0.15^ab
总孔隙度 Total porosity	0.42 ± 0.13^ab	0.52 ± 0.10^a	0.33 ± 0.12^b	0.41 ± 0.10^ab
粘粒 Clay (< 2 μm, %)	10.09 ± 2.94^a	6.06 ± 2.27^b	7.32 ± 2.83^ab	6.24 ± 2.33^b
粉粒 Silt (2-20 μm, %)	32.99 ± 14.15^a	16.00 ± 7.51^b	25.25 ± 9.91^ab	19.75 ± 8.75^ab

Fig. 1 Taxonomic composition of organisms at each trophic level of the soil micro-food web under different land use types. PF, Primary forest; SF, Secondary forest; OB, Open habitat; XJ, Rubber plantation.

Fig. 2 Alpha diversity indices of organisms at each trophic level in the soil micro-food web under different land use types. PF, Primary forest; SF, Secondary forest; OB, Open habitat; XJ, Rubber plantation. Different lowercase letters within the same panel indicate significant differences among land use types.

Fig. 3 Principal coordinate analysis based on the Bray-Curtis distance at the amplicon sequence variant (ASV) level was used to compare the compositions of bacterial, fungal, protozoa and nematode communities among the four land use types

Fig. 4 The co-occurrence network pattern and topological statistics of multi-nutrient-level biological communities in soil. The network diagram shows the Spearman correlation of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematode under different land use types. Within each panel, node size is proportional to node degree, representing the number of significant associations between each node and other nodes.

Fig. 5 Distribution of node degrees for each organism group across land use types. PF, Primary forest; SF, Secondary forest; OB, Open habitat; XJ, Rubber plantation. * P < 0.05; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001; **** P < 0.0001.

Fig. 6 Co-occurrence network structures of the soil micro-food web across different land use types. Nodes representing nematodes were included in the network calculations, but they are not displayed in this visualization due to their low abundance and connectivity.

Fig. 7 Mantel relationships between soil micro-food web communities and environmental factors across land use types. Comm., Biological community; pH, Soil pH; WC, Soil water content; SM, Soil moisture; ST, Soil temperature; CD, Canopy density; BD, Soil bulk density; SG, Soil specific gravity; TPor, Total porosity; SOC, Soil organic carbon; TN, Total nitrogen; TP, Total phosphorus; TK, Total potassium; CL, Clay (0-2 μm); SI, Silt (2-20 μm); FS, Fine sand (20-200 μm); CS, Coarse sand (200-2,000 μm).

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