JOURNAL OF SHANDONG UNIVERSITY(NATURAL SCIENCE) ›› 2026, Vol. 61 ›› Issue (10): 145-157.doi: 10.6040/j.issn.1671-9352.0.2026.094

• Hydrological Processes and Ecological Responses • Previous Articles    

Changes in soil nutrients along an elevational gradient and their effects on bacterial communities in alpine grasslands

HUANG Weijuan1, XIE Huichun1,2,3,4*, JI Shuang2,3,4, QI Yinglian1   

  1. 1. College of Life Sciences, Qinghai Normal University, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China;
    2. Innovation and Introduction Base for Plateau Resource Ecology and Sustainable Development, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China;
    3. Research Team on Formation Mechanism and Utilization of Characteristic Germplasm Resources on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xining 810008, Qinghai, China;
    4. Qinghai Forest Ecosystem Observation and Research Station in the Southern Qilian Mountains, Huzhu 810500, Qinghai, China
  • Published:2026-10-16

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Abstract: To investigate the changes in soil nutrients and their effects on bacterial communities in alpine grasslands along an elevational gradient, this study examined alpine meadows at elevations ranging from 3 900 m to 4 500 m in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. High-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze the community structure and diversity characteristics of soil bacteria, and redundancy analysis(RDA)was used to explore their relationships with soil nutrients. The results showed that soil bacterial communities across different elevations were primarily composed of 13 dominant phyla, with Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota, and Acidobacteriota being the main dominant groups. The Ace, Chao1, and Shannon indices of soil bacteria exhibited a unimodal pattern along the elevational gradient, reaching relatively high levels at 4 200 m, whereas the Simpson index showed a U-shaped trend; however, the overall differences were not statistically significant. Community structure analysis revealed that the composition of the soil bacterial community at 4 500 m differed considerably from that at other elevations and harbored a greater number of unique species. Correlation and redundancy analyses indicated that soil nutrient factors significantly influenced bacterial community structure, with total nitrogen and elevation demonstrating strong explanatory power. Functional prediction results suggested that the core metabolic functional composition of the soil bacterial communities remained relatively stable across different elevations. Overall, the changes in soil bacterial communities in alpine grasslands are primarily driven by soil nutrient conditions, exhibiting a response pattern characterized by variable structure yet relatively stable function.

Key words: elevation, alpine grassland, soil bacteria, influencing factors

CLC Number: 

  • Q938
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