Journal of Plant Ecology

• •    

  

  • 收稿日期:2025-07-16 接受日期:2025-11-22

The effects of wildfires on soil microbial community structure, network and assembly in Larix gmelinii forest

Wen Zhaoa, Reyila Mumina, Junning Lia, Jiamao Huanga, Shun Liua, Yifei Suna,*, Baokai Cuia,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Efficient Production of Forest Resources, School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China

    *Correspondence: Yifei Sun, yifeisun2016@163.com; Baokai Cui, cuibaokai@bjfu.edu.cn

  • Received:2025-07-16 Accepted:2025-11-22
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 32325001, 32270010), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. QNTD202509).

摘要: 作为北方森林的重要组成部分,兴安落叶松林受到野火的严重威胁。土壤微生物参与生物地球化学循环,与植物关系密切,在森林生态系统中起着关键作用。为了阐明野火对兴安落叶松森林土壤微生物的影响,我们于夏季和冬季在中国东北地区收集了火烧和未火烧兴安落叶松林的土壤样品进行扩增子测序。结果表明,野火显著提高了土壤微生物多样性,并明显改变了土壤微生物群落结构。土壤pH值是影响土壤微生物多样性和组成的最重要因素。与未火烧林地土壤微生物的网络相比,火烧后林地土壤微生物的网络复杂性和稳定性要低得多,并且与真菌有关的相关性比例明显升高。此外,在同一季节内,火烧后林地与未火烧相比,确定性过程在细菌和真菌群落构建中的相对重要性均有所下降。本研究从微生物群落结构、共现网络和构建过程3个方面揭示了野火对土壤微生物的影响,并表明了土壤真菌在火灾后生态功能恢复中的关键作用。

关键词: 野火干扰, 土壤微生物, 兴安落叶松林, 共现网络, 群落构建

Abstract: As a vital component of the boreal forest, Larix gmelinii forests face severe threats from frequent wildfires. Soil microorganisms play a key role in forest ecosystems by participating in biogeochemical cycles and maintaining close association with plants. To elucidate the effects of wildfires on soil microorganisms in L. gmelinii forests, we collected soil samples from burned and unburned forests in Northeast China during both summer and winter for amplicon sequencing. The results showed that wildfires significantly increased soil microbial diversity and markedly altered soil microbial community structure. Soil pH was the most important factor influencing microbial community diversity and composition. Compared with unburned networks, the burned networks were much less complex and stable, with a significantly higher proportion of fungus-related correlations. Additionally, the relative importance of deterministic processes in forming both bacterial and fungal communities was lower in the burned forest than in the unburned forest within the same season. Our study illustrated the effects of wildfire on soil microorganisms from the perspectives of community structure, networks, and assembly process, and demonstrated the crucial role of soil fungi in post-fire restoration of ecological functions.

Key words: wildfire disturbance, soil microorganisms, Larix gmelinii forest, co-occurrence network, community assembly