Fungal Diversity Drives Non-linear Trajectories of Soil Multi-functionality during Alpine Grassland Restoration
We collected soil samples from alpine grasslands on the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau across a restoration chronosequence of 1, 5, 7, 13, and 20 years, with a total of 30 samples. Soil microbial diversity was characterized using high-throughput amplicon sequencing targeting the bacterial 16S V4 region and the fungal ITS region, allowing the assessment of bacterial and fungal community composition. Microbial alpha diversity was quantified using richness metrics, which were used to describe variations in bacterial and fungal diversity across different restoration stages and their relationships with soil multifunctionality.