Abstract
Litter crusts in dryland ecosystems can promote ecosystem functioning through modification of the soil microhabitat. Yet, we still have a limited understanding of how soil microbial communities associated with litter crusts may contribute to soil functioning. Therefore, we examined the changes of soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, soil ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen and microbial communities (i.e., bacteria & fungi) associated with litter crusts, bare soil and biocrusts, to interpret potential relationships between litter crusts their associated microbial communities and soil nutrient functioning in a sandy ecosystem, China. We found that increases in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen associated with litter crusts was closely related to the bacterial community but not to the fungal community. Positive effects of litter crusts on soil nutrient inputs were associated with soil moisture and porosity potentially regulated by bacterial communities. Our results provide insights into ecological functioning of microbial communities associated with litter crusts and suggest that litter crusts enhance soil nutrient availability primarily through bacteria rather than fungi. This finding highlights the potential ecological functioning of litter crusts in governing soil nutrient dynamics.
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