ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Nutrition
Alterations in microhabitat can impact litter 1 decomposition by modifying the litter C/N ratio and 2 enhancing soil microbial activity
Provisionally accepted
- Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Ürümqi, China
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Under extreme drought conditions, the mechanisms of litter decomposition and the 17 associated microbial activities differ significantly from those in non-drought regions. 18 These differences are primarily attributed to reduced precipitation, sparse vegetation 19 cover, intense solar radiation, and unstable soil environments. However, it remains 20 unclear how alterations in litter properties and soil microbial communities—induced 21 by changes in the microenvironment under extreme drought—affect the processes of 22 litter decomposition. To address this issue, we selected two distinct habitat types, 23 applied two sand-burial treatments (surface vs. 15 cm depth), and employed the 24 litterbag method to investigate how variations in microenvironmental conditions 25 influence litter decomposition via changes in litter quality and soil microbial 26 communities. The results indicated that in vegetated areas, sand burial enhanced 27 nitrogen (N) release from litter by 16.56%, accelerated carbon (C) release by 13.13%, 28 and significantly increased mass loss by 7.50%. Structural equation modeling further 29 revealed that Actinobacteria and Ascomycota significantly promoted litter 30 decomposition in vegetated areas by enhancing lignin degradation. In contrast, the 31 higher decomposition rate of surface litter in non-vegetated areas (litter 32 decomposition rate (k) : 0.421 vs. 0.275) suggests that abiotic factors are more 33 influential in driving decomposition on exposed sandy land. A 29.37% increase in 34 lignin breakdown, likely due to photodegradation, may be the primary mechanism 35 accelerating surface litter mass loss in these areas. In summary, modifications to the 36 microenvironment influence litter decomposition by altering nutrient release and the 37 composition of soil microbial communities, ultimately affecting ecosystem C and N 38 cycling in arid environments.
Keywords: Litter decomposition, Microhabitats, nutrient release, photodegradation, Sand burial, soil microorganisms
Received: 05 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiangyi, Meiqi and Jianian. 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: Li Xiangyi
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