Enhancing cyanobacterial crust formation via extracellular polysaccharide-producing bacteria in sandy desert regions

Results demonstrated that the combined inoculation (BC group) significantly increased soil macroaggregate content (by up to 45.3%), EPS accumulation, and key indicators such as chlorophyll-a, organic matter and hydrolyzable nitrogen. BC group significantly increased Proteobacteria (50.3%), Bacteroidota (20.2%) and Firmicutes (8.8%) were significantly higher than CK group (P < 0.05). The α-diversity index and network metrics showed that the BC group was significantly lower than the CK group (P < 0.05).