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There are various types of land use in the agricultural and pastoral areas of northern China, including natural grassland and artificial grassland, scrub land, forest land and farmland, may change the soil microbial community However, the soil microbial communities in these different land use types remain poorly understood. In this study, we compared soil microbial communities in these five land use types within the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. Our results showed that land use has had a considerable impact on soil bacterial and fungal community structures. Bacterial diversity was highest in shrubland and lowest in natural grassland; fungal diversity was highest in woodland. Microbial network structural complexity also differed significantly among land use types. The lower complexity of artificial grassland and farmland may be a result of the high intensity of anthropogenic activities in these two land-use types, while the higher structural complexity of the shrubland and woodland networks characterised by low-intensity management may be a result of low anthropogenic disturbance. Correlation analysis of soil properties (e.g., soil physicochemical properties, soil nutrients, and microbiomass carbon and nitrogen levels) and soil microbial communities demonstrated that although microbial taxa were correlated to some extent with soil environmental factors, these factors did not sufficiently explain the microbial community differences among land use types. Understanding variability among soil microbial communities within agropastoral areas of northern China is critical for determining the most effective land management strategies and conserving microbial diversity at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present research reveals the effect of different soil environment modifications on population dynamic tendency of fecal Escherichia coli (E. coli). Various soil environments were created by varying the temperature regimes, relative water content, pH, C/N ratio and ammonium content. The result showed that population dynamics of E. coli with all treatments increased initially and then decreased with the passage of time. Maximum population of E. coli at higher temperature regime (37°C and 45°C) was observed on 8th day of incubation, whereas, at low temperature regime (0.6°C and 25°C), it reached the peak after 15 days of incubation, other treatments (soil relative water content, pH, C/N, ammonium content) reached the peak all after 8 days of incubation. At the end of the incubation period (60 days), maximum population of E. coli was observed in the soil treated with 0.6°C, 80% of relative soil water content, pH 7.0, 135 mg-ammonium/kg and C/N of 25:1. The results indicated that 45°C, 90% of relative water content, pH 9.0, 125 mg-ammonium/kg, C/N of 10:1 inhibited E. coli growth, whereas, 37°C, 80% of relative soil water content, pH 7.0, 135 mg-ammonium/kg and C/N of 25:1 stimulated E. coli growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are various types of land use in the agricultural and pastoral areas of northern China, including natural grassland and artificial grassland, scrub land, forest land and farmland, may change the soil microbial community However, the soil microbial communities in these different land use types remain poorly understood. In this study, we compared soil microbial communities in these five land use types within the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. Our results showed that land use has had a considerable impact on soil bacterial and fungal community structures. Bacterial diversity was highest in shrubland and lowest in natural grassland; fungal diversity was highest in woodland. Microbial network structural complexity also differed significantly among land use types. The lower complexity of artificial grassland and farmland may be a result of the high intensity of anthropogenic activities in these two land-use types, while the higher structural complexity of the shrubland and woodland networks characterised by low-intensity management may be a result of low anthropogenic disturbance. Correlation analysis of soil properties (e.g., soil physicochemical properties, soil nutrients, and microbiomass carbon and nitrogen levels) and soil microbial communities demonstrated that although microbial taxa were correlated to some extent with soil environmental factors, these factors did not sufficiently explain the microbial community differences among land use types. Understanding variability among soil microbial communities within agro-pastoral areas of northern China is critical for determining the most effective land management strategies and conserving microbial diversity at the regional level., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Sun, Sun, Zhang, Liu, Wang, Feng, Li, Tang and Jin.)