Plant and Soil Development Cooperatively Shaped the Composition of the phoD -Harboring Bacterial Community along the Primary Succession in the Hailuogou Glacier Chronosequence

Abstract

Phosphorus was the key limiting nutrient for soil development during primary succession that occurred in alpine and high-latitude ecosystems with cold and humid climates. The interactions of functional microbiota involved in phosphorus cycling in the rhizosphere under different soil developmental stages along primary succession are still rarely examined. We selected the pioneer species Populus purdomii as a model plant to study the phoD -harboring bacterial communities in rhizosphere and bulk soils along a mountain glacier chronosequence. Our results showed that the bulk soils and rhizosphere host distinct phoD communities and diversity that differentially varied along the chronosequence, describing in detail the development and compositional turnover of the phoD community in the course of primary succession and determining the main environmental factors driving the development.