Response characteristics of soil microorganisms under strong disturbance conditions in the riparian zone of the three Gorges reservoir Area

Abstract

Abstract The normal operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir, which involves periodic water storage and discharge, has led to strong disturbances in environmental conditions that alter soil microbial habitats in the riparian zones. Riparian zones are an important part of controlling pollution in the Three Gorges Reservoir area, since they act as a final ecological barrier that intercepts pollutants. Meanwhile, monitoring the health of microbial communities in the riparian zone is crucial for maintaining the ecological security of the reservoir area. We specifically investigate the Daning River, which are tributaries of the Three Gorges Reservoir and have typical riparian zones. Soil samples from these areas were subjected to high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes and 18S rRNA genes, in order to obtain the characteristics of the present microbial communities under strong disturbances in the riparian zones. We studied the characteristics and distribution patterns of microbial communities and their relationship with soil physicochemical properties. The study results indicate that microbial communities exhibit high diversity and evenness, and spatial heterogeneity is present. The ASV dataset contains many sequences not assigned to known genera, suggesting the presence of new fungal genera in the riparian zone. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that pH and $${NH}_{4}^{+}$$ NH 4 + -N were the primary environmental factors driving bacterial community variation in the riparian zone, while pH, total carbon (TC) content, and $${NO}_{3}^{-}$$ NO 3 - -N were identified as the main drivers of soil archaeal community variation.

Keywords

• Three Gorges Reservoir Area
• Riparian zone
• Microbial community
• Variation