Effects of grazing disturbance on biological crust soil

Overgrazing is a major driver of dryland degradation, however, so far, there is very limited understanding on whether and how this process affects biocrust-related microbial community, especially how the key groups respond to grazing disturbance. Therefore, in this study, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and high throughout sequencing technologies were used to investigate the bacterial community abundance and diversity in the Horqin Sandland (China) experienced different livestock grazing disturbances, in order to examine whether a shift in bacterial community (in particular the key biocrust components-cyanobacteria) was involved, and how this was linked to biocrust development and altered soil carbon and nitrogen storage.

过度放牧是旱地退化的主要驱动因子之一，但迄今为止，学界对该过程是否以及如何影响生物结皮（biocrust）相关的微生物群落，尤其是关键类群如何响应放牧干扰，仍缺乏足够的认知。为此，本研究采用实时定量聚合酶链式反应（quantitative polymerase chain reaction, qPCR）与高通量测序（high throughout sequencing）技术，对中国科尔沁沙地中经受不同家畜放牧干扰的样地开展细菌群落丰度与多样性调查，以期探明细菌群落（尤其是核心生物结皮组分——蓝细菌（cyanobacteria））是否发生组成转变，以及该转变与生物结皮发育、土壤碳氮储量变化之间的内在关联。