Soil archaea response to the water table drawdown in freshwater wetlands in the Yellow River Estuary

Water table dynamics affect the diversity and community structure of archaea in coastal wetlands. However, how the soil archaeal community responds to the water table drawdown remains unexplored. Here, soil samples from flooded freshwater wetlands (FFW) and saturated freshwater wetlands (SFW) were collected to investigate the impact of the water table drawdown on the soil archaeal community. The results showed that the alpha diversity index values in FFW soils were significantly higher than those in SFW soils ( p < 0.05). The beta diversity index values indicated significant differences between of the FFW and SFW soils ( p < 0.05). Crenarchaeota, Bathyarchaeia, and unidentified_Bathyarcaeia were the most dominant phylum, class and family in both the FFW and SFW soils, respectively, but they showed significantly higher proportions in the SFW soils ( p < 0.05). The water table drawdown lowered the archaeal community richness and diversity, and significantly altered the archaeal community structure. • The water table drawdown increased soil salinity and the clay+silt content. • The water table drawdown decreased archaeal community richness and diversity. • The water table drawdown changed the archaeal community structure. • Soil properties affected the archaeal community richness and diversity.