Reclamation and fertilization of sandy grassland altered biogeochemical functions by influencing microbial communities and functional category groups related to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Reclamation and fertilization could lead to the reduction of soil C content and insufficient soil N by altering functional category groups, which would be a potential risk leading to sandy grassland degradation. These findings not only improve our understanding of the consequences of sandy grassland reclamation and fertilization on ecosystem processes, but are also important for predicting soil C sequestration and nutrient cycling and for developing strategies to prevent degradation of sandy grassland.
Zhang et al. (Tue,) studied this question.