Grassland degradation amplifies the negative effect of nitrogen enrichment on soil microbial community stability.

Abstract

Although nitrogen (N) enrichment is known to threaten the temporal stability of aboveground net primary productivity, it remains unclear how it alters that of belowground microbial abundance and whether its impact can be regulated by grassland degradation. Using data from N enrichment experiments at temperate grasslands with no, moderate, severe, and extreme degradation degrees, we quantified the temporal stability of soil microbial abundance (hereafter 'microbial community stability') using the ratio of the mean quantitative PCR to its standard deviation over 4 years. Both bacterial and fungal community stability sharply decreased when N input exceeded 30 g N m-2  year-1 in non-degraded grasslands, whereas a reduction in this threshold occurred in degraded grasslands. Microbial species diversity, species asynchrony, and species associations jointly altered microbial community stability. Interestingly, the linkages between plant and microbial community stability were strengthened in degraded grasslands, suggesting that plants and soil microbes might depend on each other to keep stable communities in harsh environments. Our findings highlighted the importance of grassland degradation in regulating the responses of microbial community stability to N enrichment and provided experimental evidence for understanding the relationships between plant and microbial community stability.