Determining the contribution of microbiome complexity to the soil nutrient heterogeneity of fertile islands in a desert ecosystem

“Fertile islands” are known as hotspots of soil nutrient spatial heterogeneity in dryland ecosystems. Although soil microorganisms play critical functional roles in nutrient capture and cycling within fertile islands, our understanding of polymicrobial community roles in regulating soil nutrient distribution in fertile islands remains limited. Herein, we aim to clarify the relationships between the complexity of soil microbial (bacterial, archaeal and fungal) communities and the nutrient distribution around fertile islands. Soil samples were collected along vertical profiles at varying depths in three patches under the canopy of Hedysarum scoparium (CENTRE), at the edge (EDGE) of the canopy and outside (OUTSIDE) the canopy in an area of flowing sand. All the three microbiota have showed spatial heterogeneity around the fertile islands. Among them, bacteria had the most significant heterogeneity, and bacterial community assembly was dominated by deterministic processes. Microbial interaction patterns also showed spatial heterogeneity among different patches. More interaction complexity within microbiota was found in the bacteria in the CENTRE patch and in the fungi in the OUTSIDE patch. In addition, the proportions of among-kingdom connections were reduced under the canopies. Bacteria had the highest connectivity and centrality in the polymicrobial networks and were the most important predictor of polymicrobial interaction complexity, which may have contributed to the distribution of soil nutrients. The random forest (RF) model provided evidence that bacterial beta-diversity and the polymicrobial network complexity index can be optimal predictors of the soil multinutrient cycling index. Our study highlighted the responses of bacteria and polymicrobial interactions to fertile islands and their importance in driving soil nutrient heterogeneity. This information will help in managing soil microorganisms to provide dryland ecosystem services.