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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (2): 54-66.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2024116

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Effects of conversion of alpine meadow to cultivated land on the soil microbial community in northwest Sichuan

Xiao-dong TU1,2(), Jun-fang CUI1(), Fu-hong KUANG1, Chun-pei LI1, Jiu-zhen DU3, Hong-lan WANG3, Xiang-yu TANG2   

  1. 1.Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chengdu 610299,China
    2.College of Forestry and Biotechnology,Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University,Hangzhou 311300,China
    3.Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Chengdu 610031,China
  • Received:2024-04-10 Revised:2024-06-05 Online:2025-02-20 Published:2024-11-27
  • Contact: Jun-fang CUI

Abstract:

In the 1960s, extensive tracts of alpine meadows in the Zoige region of northwestern Sichuan were drained and converted into cultivated land, later utilized for cultivating genuine medicinal materials (for example Rheum tanguticum). This change is significantly impacting soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities. Utilizing Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology, this study compares and analyzes the microbial community characteristics of the Zoige alpine meadows and soils used for R. tanguticum cultivation across soil depths of 0-60 cm. The effects of the land use change on soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities are investigated. Results indicate that the conversion of alpine meadow into cultivated land led to decrease in saturated moisture content, field capacity, and retention water content. The pH and total potassium content of soils used to grow R. tanguticum were significantly higher than meadow soil at several depths, while organic matter content was significantly lower in the 0-20 cm soil layer compared to meadow soil. Alkaline hydrolyzable nitrogen and total nitrogen content only significantly decreased at soil depths of 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm, respectively. Compared with meadow soil, R. tanguticum soil exhibited increased bacterial diversity and decreased fungal diversity. Cultivation of R. tanguticum significantly increased the abundance of Bacillus, reduced beneficial fungi, and increased potentially harmful fungi. Redundancy analysis highlighted available potassium, organic matter, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen as the main nutrient factors influencing soil microbial communities. Co-occurrence network analysis suggested that the conversion of meadow to cultivated land reduced the complexity of soil microbial communities, with bacteria forming more complex co-occurrence networks than fungi. The findings contribute significantly to the advanced understanding of the alterations in soil physicochemical properties and microbial communities following the reclamation of alpine meadows in Northwestern Sichuan, providing scientific data to assist in the formulation of sustainable management practices for R. tanguticum.

Key words: alpine meadows, microbial community, land use change, Rheum tanguticum