Decoupling microbial diversity from C/N/S cycling potential: A shrubification-driven ecological filtering mechanism in alpine meadow soils

Key Points

• Microbial diversity affects carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycling in alpine meadow soils, leading to notable shifts in ecosystem function.
• Key evidence indicates that higher levels of shrubification correlate with reduced cycling capacity, highlighting significant ecological impacts.
• This analysis utilizes soil samples from diverse alpine meadows to assess microbial composition and its role in nutrient cycling dynamics.
• The findings suggest that ecological filtering due to shrubification may reshape microbial roles in nutrient cycling, necessitating deeper ecological investigations.