Distribution patterns and drivers of artificial soil bacterial community on cut-slopes in alpine mountain area of southwest China.

• Artificial soil bacteria community showed single-peak patterns along with altitude. • Plant community distribution pattern was basically consistent with soil bacteria. • Drivers of soil bacterial community are plant communities and soil nutrients. • Attention should be paid to artificial soil fixation and prevention of soil erosion. • Acidibacter and available potassium should be added in ecological restoration. The research of soil bacterial community biodiversity in special habitats is important for ecological restoration. In this paper, distribution patterns and drivers of artificial soil bacterial community on cut-slopes at different altitudes (2950 m, 3300 m, 3650 m and 4000 m) in alpine region were studied. The results demonstrated that the artificial soil bacteria genera on cut-slopes showed single-peak patterns along with altitude. Soil bacteria communities conformed to abundance distributions for a large number of rare species and a small number of common species, and there was a long tail for very rare species. The distribution patterns of plant communities along with altitude was basically the same as that of bacteria, and plant communities were mainly influenced by soil types and light-temperature conditions. The distribution pattern of bacterial communities was influenced by individual number of plants, the contents of available potassium (AK), organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen (AN), moisture content (MC) and available phosphorus (AP). Complicated relationships of soil bacteria community, plant communities and soil nutrients in alpine regions are conducive to the stability of the community structure, which is beneficial to ecological restoration of cut-slopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]