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Patterns in Plant-Microbiota Networks Along a Vegetation Diversity Gradient in Alpine Grasslands
  • +7
  • Na Li,
  • Teng Yang,
  • Jie Fang,
  • Yu Shi,
  • Yaping Guo,
  • Bin Song,
  • Ying Yang,
  • Zihao Liu,
  • Jonathan Adams,
  • Haiyan Chu
Na Li
Nanjing University
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Teng Yang
Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing Branch
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Jie Fang
Nanjing University
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Yu Shi
Henan University
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Yaping Guo
Nanjing University
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Bin Song
Nanjing University
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Ying Yang
Nanjing University
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Zihao Liu
Nanjing University
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Jonathan Adams

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Haiyan Chu
Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing Branch
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Abstract

Understanding how the network structure of plant and microbiota interactions differ along ecological gradients is of great interest. We studied network patterns at 60 sites across the Tibetan Plateau, representing a gradient in both precipitation and plant species richness. The number of fungal OTUs that were uniquely connected to each plant species in the plant-fungi network was most strongly positively related to plant species richness. By contrast, the number of unique bacterial OTUs linked to each plant species decreased with increasing plant species richness. The number of fungal OTUs specifically linked to each plant species was positively related to plant species richness, and to productivity. We suggest that in a more extreme high-stress environment that decreases plant species richness, plants and fungi have fewer excess resources to invest in specific relationships, showing up as lower associated microbiome richness, with bacteria may partially replacing this role in high stress/low productivity environments.