Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types

Liu, Wenjing; Xue, Kai; Zhang, Biao; Zhou, Shutong; Cao, Weiwei; Wang, Kui; Hao, Yanbin; Cui, Xiaoyong; Wang, Yanfen

doi:10.3390/microorganisms14010156

This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types

by

Wenjing Liu

¹,

Kai Xue

^1,2,3,*,

Biao Zhang

^1,4,

Shutong Zhou

^1,†,

Weiwei Cao

¹,

Kui Wang

¹,

Yanbin Hao

^2,5,

Xiaoyong Cui

^2,5

and

Yanfen Wang

^1,2,3

¹

College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

²

Beijing Yanshan Earth Critical Zone National Research Station, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China

³

State Key Laboratory of Earth System Numerical Modeling and Application, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

⁴

The College of LifeScience, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China

⁵

College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101408, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

Current address: School of Geography and Tourism, Qilu Normal University, Jinan 250200, China.

Microorganisms 2026, 14(1), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14010156 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 9 December 2025 / Revised: 4 January 2026 / Accepted: 8 January 2026 / Published: 10 January 2026

(This article belongs to the Section Environmental Microbiology)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

Grasslands, as dominant terrestrial ecosystems, significantly influence soil microbial communities through alterations in soil properties. However, their effects on spatial patterns of soil microbial communities are still under-investigated. To address this, we quantified taxa–area (TAR) and node–area (NAR) relationships for prokaryotic and fungal communities across temperate steppe (TS), alpine steppe (AS), and alpine meadow (AM). Our findings indicated that the spatial turnover of both prokaryotic and fungal communities were higher in alpine steppe and alpine meadow than in temperate steppe, mirroring the gradient of soil environmental heterogeneity. Notably, overall species richness increased logarithmically with sampling area in all grasslands; in striking contrast, co-occurring richness exhibited an increasing and then decreasing trend in AS and AM, but declined monotonically in TS, indicating that microbial interaction networks collapse once a critical spatial threshold is exceeded regulated by ecosystem type and environmental heterogeneity. In growing season, the stochastic dominance in prokaryotic assembly (Normalized stochasticity ratio = 0.71–0.89) and deterministic dominance in fungal assembly (Normalized stochasticity ratio = 0.23–0.37) can be explained by their differences in niche breadth and migration rate. These scale-dependent biogeographic patterns demonstrate that grassland type impacts distinct interactions and spatial patterns of microbial communities. These findings provide novel insights into a comprehensive understanding of how grassland type mediates soil microbial community.

Keywords: grassland; soil microbial community; microbial interactions; spatial pattern

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Liu, W.; Xue, K.; Zhang, B.; Zhou, S.; Cao, W.; Wang, K.; Hao, Y.; Cui, X.; Wang, Y. Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types. Microorganisms 2026, 14, 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14010156

AMA Style

Liu W, Xue K, Zhang B, Zhou S, Cao W, Wang K, Hao Y, Cui X, Wang Y. Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types. Microorganisms. 2026; 14(1):156. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14010156

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liu, Wenjing, Kai Xue, Biao Zhang, Shutong Zhou, Weiwei Cao, Kui Wang, Yanbin Hao, Xiaoyong Cui, and Yanfen Wang. 2026. "Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types" Microorganisms 14, no. 1: 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14010156

APA Style

Liu, W., Xue, K., Zhang, B., Zhou, S., Cao, W., Wang, K., Hao, Y., Cui, X., & Wang, Y. (2026). Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types. Microorganisms, 14(1), 156. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms14010156

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Environmental Heterogeneity Drives Distinct Spatial Distribution Patterns of Microbial Co-Occurring Species Across Different Grassland Types

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI