Priority Effects of the Arrival of Plants on the Soil Microbial Community Assembly: A Temporal Perspective

ABSTRACT Priority effects refer to the phenomenon where species that arrive earlier gain a competitive advantage, thereby influencing the establishment and performance of the species that arrive later. While the role of priority effects in shaping plant communities has been recognized and applied in the restoration of grasslands, little is known about their influence on the microbial communities in the soil. In this study, we investigated how plant priority effects affected the community composition of the soil microbes and their temporal dynamics. A sequential sowing experiment was conducted using Elymus nutans and Tibetia himalaica in a glasshouse. Soil samples were collected at three key stages of plant growth and analyzed using high‐throughput sequencing. The results showed that the early arrival of T. himalaica significantly increased the microbial diversity and altered the community composition. Although the effects on microbial diversity diminished over time, the overall community structure remained distinct. Moreover, the bacterial and fungal communities had divergent temporal responses to the priority treatments of the plants. These findings deepen our understanding of plant–soil–microbe interactions and offer practical insights to optimize the sequences of assembling plants during the ecological restoration of grassland.