Whether both plant and soil microbial communities in the degraded alpine steppes are limited by these soil nutrients remains unclear

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the stated research gap and abstract of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2024 and 2026, spanning 6 journals. Those papers have been cited 94 times in total.

Supporting evidence — 6 representative gaps

• Holobiomes in succession: post-glacial microbial communities are structured by hosts, time and habitat heterogeneity (2026) · FEMS Microbiology Ecology · doi

  The roles of various sources in structuring bacterial and fungal metacommunities in glacier forefields are not well understood. There is a lack of knowledge on how source identity, moraine age, and topography shape microbial assembly. The importance of hosts and abiotic sources in shaping microbial diversity and interactions during glacier forefield succession is not well studied.

  generalstated research gap
  Keywords: roles various sources structuring bacterial fungal metacommunities glacier
• Vegetation dominantly shapes the elevational patterns of archaeal and protistan communities and their ecological functions in the Hengduan Mountains, Tibetan Plateau (2025) · Functional Ecology · doi

  Abstract While elevational patterns of soil bacterial and fungal communities in mountain ecosystems have been well documented, the assembly processes of soil archaeal and protistan communities, and their linkage with ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), remain poorly understood, particularly under the combined influence of vegetational, edaphic and climatic factors in the alpine forests of the Tibetan Plateau.

  generalabstract
  Keywords: soil communities abstract elevational patterns bacterial fungal mountain ecosystems well documented assembly processes archaeal protistan
• Soil microbial network complexity predicts soil multifunctionality better than soil microbial diversity during grassland-farmland-shrubland conversion on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (2024) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · cited 70× · doi

  However, few studies have focused on the responses of soil environmental factors, soil microbial properties, and links between primary productivity, soil microbes, and soil multifunctionality during land-use change in the ecologically sensitive alpine areas on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

  generalabstractevidence 4/5
  Keywords: soil focused responses environmental factors microbial properties links primary productivity microbes multifunctionality land change ecologically
• Soil Environments Regulate Dominant Soil Fungal Communities along an Elevational Gradient in Subtropical Forests (2024) · Forests · cited 9× · doi

  Yet, clarifying the relationships between soil fungal diversity and microclimate variability along an elevational gradient, as well as understanding the driving mechanisms of their variations in subtropical forests, remains insufficiently understood.

  generalabstractevidence 4/5
  Keywords: clarifying relationships soil fungal diversity microclimate variability along elevational gradient well understanding driving mechanisms variations
• Abundant Species Govern the Altitude Patterns of Bacterial Community in Natural and Disturbed Subalpine Forest Soils (2024) · Diversity · cited 3× · doi

  Although the altitude patterns of soil bacteria have been widely studied, it remains unclear whether these patterns are consistent among bacteria with varying predominance levels, and which subpopulation contributes more to maintaining these patterns in natural and disturbed subalpine forest soils.

  generalabstractevidence 2/5
  Keywords: patterns bacteria altitude soil widely studied remains unclear whether consistent among varying predominance levels subpopulation
• The desertification process alters soil microbial metabolic limitations and their effects on soil carbon sequestration in a Tibetan alpine steppe (2024) · Journal of Integrative Agriculture · cited 12× · doi

  However, whether both plant and soil microbial communities in the degraded alpine steppes are limited by these soil nutrients remains unclear, which limits our understanding of the mechanisms of desertification and subsequent ecosystem restoration.

  generalabstractevidence 2/5
  Keywords: soil whether plant microbial communities degraded alpine steppes limited nutrients remains unclear limits understanding mechanisms

Questions about this gap