Differential Influences of Wind-Blown Sand Burial on Bacterial and Fungal Communities Inhabiting Biological Soil Crusts in a Temperate Desert, China

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are an integration of external photoautotrophs and internal heterotrophic communities. Sand burial is a ubiquitous disturbance that affects the biodiversity and ecological function of BSCs, but little is known about the influence of sand burial on microbial communities in arid sandy deserts. Here, based on a long-term field experiment and utilizing high-throughput sequencing, we assessed the influence of sand burial on bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting two typical successional stages of BSCs (cyanobacterial crusts for early successional stage and mixed crusts for late successional stage) at the three-sand buried depth (0, 0.5, and 10 mm) in the Tengger Desert, Northern China. We found that the diversity, abundance, and composition of the bacterial and fungal communities were all altered by the sand burial treatment. Different indicator taxa were identified in unburied and buried (shallow and deep) BSCs. Changes in soil properties caused by sand burial have been suggested as a possible cause of changes in the bacterial and fungal community composition in BSCs.

Automated summary

In this study, the influence of sand burial on bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting cyanobacterial and mixed crusts was assessed using a long-term field experiment and high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that sand burial treatment altered the diversity, abundance, and composition of the microbial communities. Different indicator taxa were identified in unburied and buried crusts, suggesting that changes in soil properties caused by sand burial may be a possible cause of changes in bacterial and fungal community composition in biological soil crusts.