Linking the Changes of Soil Organic Carbon with Rare Bacterial Diversity in Sagebrush Desert Grassland Under Grazing Exclusion

Bingjie Yu, Zongjiu Sun (), Yuxuan Cui and Huixia Liu
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Bingjie Yu: College of Grassland Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Zongjiu Sun: College of Grassland Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Yuxuan Cui: College of Grassland Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China
Huixia Liu: College of Grassland Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi 830052, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 18, 1-19

Abstract: Grazing exclusion is an effective and economical tool for restoring degraded grasslands. Yet, less attention is paid to the changes of rare and abundant bacterial taxa and their connections with soil organic carbon changes after grazing exclusion (GE). Using high-throughput sequencing and multiple statistical methods, we assessed shifts in rare and abundant bacterial taxa and contributions to soil organic carbon in five typical sagebrush (Xinyuan, Bole, Qitai, Hutubi, Manasi) desert experimental plots in Xinjiang, northwest China. The results demonstrated that rare bacterial α-diversity decreased significantly in Xinyuan, Bole, and Qitai plots, while Hutubi and Manasi plots significantly increased during GE ( p < 0.05). GE increased the edges/nodes ratio from 29.60% to 44.90% and changed network complexity by shifting the nodes and topological properties, cohesion, and robustness in the bacterial network. The changes in rare bacterial diversity are tightly correlated with changes in soil organic carbon. The results not only underline the pivotal role of rare bacterial taxa in response to GE and soil organic carbon changes but also provide novel insights into the mechanisms of soil organic carbon changes after GE.

Keywords: grazing exclusion; bacterial diversity; rare taxa; co-occurrence networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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