Characteristics of microbial community composition and assembly processes in the shallow groundwater of intensive vegetable cultivation areas-rural systems in the Huaibei Plain, China

Microbial communities play an essential role in the process of groundwater cycling. However, microbial community composition, assembly mechanisms, and species coexistence relationships in the groundwater of typical agricultural planting areas are poorly understood. Therefore, in this study, the structure and assembly process of prokaryotic microorganisms in the groundwater of intensive vegetable cultivation zones (IVCs) and rural areas (RAs) in the Huaibei Plain of China were investigated, and the factors influencing the microbiota structure, function, and assembly process in IVC and RA groundwater were assessed based on hydrogeochemistry, co-occurrence network analysis, and null modeling analysis.