Soil Bacterial and Fungal Richness and Network Exhibit Different Responses to Long-Term Throughfall Reduction in a Warm-Temperate Oak Forest

Prolonged drought results in serious ecological consequences forest ecosystems, particularly for soil microbial communities. However, much is unknown about communities their response to long-term consecutive droughts warm-temperate forests. Here, we conducted a 7-year manipulated throughfall reduction experiment (TFR) examine the responses of bacterial and fungal terms richness networks. Our show that TFR reduced bacterial, but not fungal, richness, with rare taxa being more sensitive than dominant taxa. The network under treatment featured simpler structure fewer competitive links compared control, implying weakened interactions among species. Bacterial genes involved xenobiotic biodegradation metabolism, lignin-degrading enzymes were enhanced treatment, which may be attributed TFR-induced increases fine root biomass turnover. indicate are responsive fungi oak forest, leading potential such as degradation recalcitrant organics soil.