Yield attributes, soil microbial composition, diversity, and network stability responded differently to drought in red clover-timothy grass mixed stand versus monoculture.

The aim of this study was to advance the understanding of these significantly important legume-based forage systems by investigating the interactions between drought, mixed-cropping systems, and soil microbial communities, providing insights into their implications for agricultural sustainability in drought-prone regions. We hypothesized that bacterial communities would show contrasting effects at the two cropping (legume-based mixed stand and monoculture) setups, showing differential responses to drought and post-drought recovery.To explore these dynamics, we employed a 16S rRNA-based approach for differential abundance analysis, comparing mixed and monoculture systems. This allowed us to assess bacterial enrichment or depletion under drought stress and post-drought recovery, providing insights into microbial shifts in these forage systems.本研究旨在通过探究干旱、混作系统与土壤微生物群落之间的相互作用，深化对这类极具重要性的豆科饲草系统的认知，以期为干旱易发地区的农业可持续发展提供理论依据。我们提出研究假设：在两种种植模式（豆科混播群落与单作群落）下，细菌群落将呈现出截然不同的作用效应，对干旱胁迫及旱后恢复过程表现出差异化响应。为探究上述动态变化，本研究采用基于16S rRNA的差异丰度分析方法，对混作与单作系统开展对比研究。借此得以评估干旱胁迫及旱后恢复阶段细菌群落的富集与消减情况，进而揭示这类饲草系统中微生物群落的演替规律。