Soil-faunal responses differ among plateau zokor mounds with contrasting creation times and recovery durations in alpine meadows

Plateau zokors ( Eospalax baileyi ) are ecosystem engineers whose mound creation alters soil structure and microenvironmental conditions in alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau. However, variation among zokor mounds differing in creation time and post-creation recovery stage remains poorly understood. In this study, we compared autumn-, spring-, and summer-created mounds, together with adjacent intact Kobresia pasture, and quantified plant and soil physicochemical properties, microbial diversity, and the composition and a-diversity of soil macroinvertebrate and nematode communities. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the associations among environmental variables and soil-faunal responses. Summer-created mounds with the shortest recovery duration at the time of sampling were associated with lower macroinvertebrate abundance and α-diversity than the other mound types and intact pasture. In contrast, nematode Chao1 richness was higher on summer- and autumn-created mounds. These community responses were closely associated with variation in soil temperature and microbial diversity. Our findings suggest that newly created summer mounds may constitute an important short-term disturbance factor in alpine meadows, particularly because mound creation during the summer growing period coincides with a period of high soil-faunal activity. Future assessments of plateau zokor impacts and grassland management should therefore distinguish among mounds differing in creation time and post-creation recovery stage.