Integrating variation in bacterial-fungal co-occurrence network with soil carbon dynamics

Bacteria and fungi are core microorganisms in diverse ecosystems, and their cross-kingdom interactions are considered key determinants of microbiome structure and ecosystem functioning. However, how bacterial-fungal interactions mediate soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics remains largely unexplored in the context of artificial forest ecosystems. Here, we characterized soil bacterial and fungal communities in four successive planting of Eucalyptus and compared them to a neighboring evergreen broadleaf forest. Carbon (C) mineralization combined with five C-degrading enzymatic activities was investigated to determine the effects of successive planting of Eucalyptus on SOC dynamics. Our results indicated that successive planting of Eucalyptus significantly altered the diversity and structure of soil bacterial and fungal communities and increased the negative bacterial-fungal associations. The bacterial diversity significantly decreased in all Eucalyptus plantations compared to the evergreen ...