ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1646535
This article is part of the Research TopicForest Microbiome: Dynamics and Interactions in the Anthropocene Era, Vol IIView all 4 articles
Comparative analysis of rhizosphere microbial communities in monoculture and mixed oak-pine forests: structural and functional insights
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xinyang Agriculture and Forestry University, Xinyang, China
- 2Xinyang Forestry Technology Workstation, Xinyang, China
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The ecological significance of rhizosphere microbiomes in forest ecosystems is increasingly recognized. This study provides comparative analysis of microbial communities in Pinus massoniana-Quercus acutissima mixed forests versus monoculture systems. Mixed stands exhibited superior rhizosphere nutrient conditions and supported more diverse microbial populations, particularly with respect to Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Basidiomycota. Principal component analysis revealed clear separation between rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil communities, as well as distinct clustering patterns between mixed and pure forest types. The functional analysis revealed conserved metabolic pathways across forest stands, with bacterial metabolic processes and fungal saprophytic functions representing dominant community roles. Network topology analysis demonstrated enhanced connectivity in mixed forest rhizosphere systems, featuring Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria as bacterial network hubs, while Basidiomycota emerged as central fungal network components. Environmental drivers exhibited differential influences, with bacterial assemblages responding primarily to soil pH, organic carbon content, and phosphorus availability, whereas fungal communities showed stronger associations with organic carbon and potassium levels. These findings collectively demonstrate that mixed-species plantations foster robust microbial networks through microenvironmental regulation, offering valuable insights for sustainable forest management practices.
Keywords: rhizosphere, microbial communities, Mixed forests, Microbial function, Pinus massoniana-Quercus acutissima
Received: 18 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qiao, Guan, Ren and Ma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhuizhui Guan, Xinyang Agriculture and Forestry University, Xinyang, China
Tianxiao Ma, Xinyang Agriculture and Forestry University, Xinyang, China
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