Changes in bacterial communities stability to soil salinization. Fungal rather than bacterial communities are stabilized under soil salinization in the Taklamakan desert

Soil salinization may result changes in microbial communities, with implications for ecosystem function and sustainability. Early research has revealed the influence of soil salinization on bacterial and fungal composition, whereas studies on how soil salinization affects the stability of bacterial and fungal communities are scare. Here, we used a gradient of soil salinity to test two hypotheses (1) whether the stability of fungal communities was more sensitive to soil salinization than that of bacterial communities, and (2) whether the stabilities of bacterial and fungal communities in subsoil was more sensitive to soil salinization than those in topsoil. Our results showed that the modularity of fungal networks increased and that of bacterial networks was not significantly changed along the salinity gradient. The negative:positive cohesion of fungal networks were more sensitive to changes in soil salinity compared to that of bacterial networks. The modularity and negative:positive cohesion of fungal networks in topsoil showed lower coefficients with soil salinity than those in top soils. The modularity and negative:positive cohesion of bacteria networks in topsoil showed higher coefficients with soil salinity than the subsoil. This study provides insights into the resistance of soil microbial communities under soil salinization, which have implications for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem sustainability.