pH and Soil Water Content as Key Drivers of Soil Microbial Community Shifts in the Alpine Wetlands around Qinghai Lake

To understand the variation of soil microbial communities and their key Driving factors across different alpine wetlands in the Qinghai Lake basin, we investigated 11 alpine wetlands around Qinghai Lake, analyzing the composition and diversity of soil bacterial and fungal communities, as well as the soil properties, especially the soil pH and soil water content (SWC). The results showed that: (1) 43 bacterial OTUs (operational taxonomic units) and 3 fungal OTUs were shared among all 11 sites, Proteobacteria dominated the bacterial communities, while Ascomycota was the most dominant fungal phylum. (2) Significant differences (p < 0.01) were observed in alpha diversity indices (Chao1, Observed species, and Shannon) for both bacterial and fungal among the different wetlands. (3) Fungal Chao1 and Shannon indices exhibited highly significant negative correlations with pH (P < 0.01), as did bacterial Chao1 and Shannon indices. Our findings indicated that both pH and SWC exerted substantial influences on the diversity of bacterial and fungal communities, and highlights the influence of water recharge, lake level, and salinity on the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities in the alpine wetlands surrounding Qinghai Lake.