Climate warming and nitrogen deposition increase leaf epiphytic and
endophytic bacterial diversity
- Lu Bai,
- Yunzhuo Wen,
- Guodong Han,
- Zhuwen Xu,
- Zhongwu Wang,
- Jinglei Tang,
- Lin Jiang,
- Haiyan Ren
Abstract
The plant microbiome significantly influences plant health and ecosystem
functions, yet its response to environmental change and links to plant
diversity are not fully understood. We investigated the impacts of
climate warming and nitrogen deposition on leaf epiphytic and endophytic
bacterial communities in Stipa breviflora and Cleistogenes songorica
over an 18-year field experiment in temperate desert steppe. Results
showed increased diversity in both leaf bacterial types, with epiphytic
biomass rising and endophytic biomass falling due to distinct
mechanisms. Epiphytic diversity and biomass increased with leaf
temperature and transpiration rate, endophyte diversity increased with
leaf carbon and nitrogen concentrations, and endophytic biomass related
to leaf nitrogen and phosphorus levels. Structural equation modeling
revealed both epiphytic and endophytic bacterial diversity correlated
with reduced plant diversity, which in turn was linked to increased leaf
bacterial diversity, indicating a complex response of phyllosphere
bacteria to global changes in perennial grassland ecosystems.