Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 17;13(8):1915.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13081915.

Independent and Interactive Effects of Precipitation Intensity and Duration on Soil Microbial Communities in Forest and Grassland Ecosystems of China: A Meta-Analysis

Bo Hu  1   2   3 , Wei Li  1   2   3
Affiliations

Independent and Interactive Effects of Precipitation Intensity and Duration on Soil Microbial Communities in Forest and Grassland Ecosystems of China: A Meta-Analysis

Bo Hu et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Altered precipitation regimes, both in intensity and duration, can profoundly influence the structure and function of soil microbial communities, yet the patterns and drivers of these responses remain unclear across ecosystem types. Here, using data exclusively from 101 field experiments conducted in China (yielding 695 observations), we investigated the impacts of altered precipitation on soil microbial biomass, diversity, and enzymatic activity in forest and grassland ecosystems. Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) increased in response to precipitation addition, particularly in grasslands, but they decreased under reduced precipitation, with the decline being more pronounced in forests. The magnitude and duration of precipitation manipulation significantly influenced these effects, with moderate and long-term changes producing divergent responses. Bacterial diversity was largely unaffected by all precipitation treatments, whereas fungal diversity decreased significantly under intense and short-term reductions in precipitation. Enzyme activities exhibited the following element-specific patterns: carbon- and phosphorus-cycling enzymes and antioxidant enzymes were suppressed by precipitation reduction, especially in grasslands, while nitrogen-cycling enzymes showed no consistent response. Moreover, microbial responses were significantly shaped by environmental factors, including mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and elevation. Our region-specific analysis highlights precipitation-driven microbial dynamics across China's diverse climatic and ecological conditions. These findings demonstrate that soil microbial communities respond asymmetrically to precipitation changes, with responses shaped by both ecosystem type and climatic context, underscoring the need to account for environmental heterogeneity when predicting belowground feedback to climate change.

Keywords: enzyme activity; forest ecosystem; grassland ecosystem; meta-analysis; microbial diversity; precipitation gradient; soil microbial biomass; temporal scale.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Location distribution of the study sites.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Independent and interactive effects of precipitation intensity and duration on MBC and MBN. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Independent and interactive effects of precipitation intensity and duration on MBC and MBN. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Independent and interactive effects of precipitation intensity and duration on MBC and MBN. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Independent and interactive effects of precipitation intensity and duration on bacterial and fungal diversity. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Independent and interactive effects of precipitation intensity and duration on bacterial and fungal diversity. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect sizes of soil C-, N-, and P-cycling and antioxidant enzyme activities in response to precipitation changes. PI: precipitation increase; PD: precipitation decrease; SPI: slight precipitation increase; MPI: moderate precipitation increase; EPI: extreme precipitation increase; SPD: slight precipitation decrease; MPD: moderate precipitation decrease; EPD: extreme precipitation decrease; STPI: short-term precipitation increase; MTPI: medium-term precipitation increase; LTPI: long-term precipitation increase; STPD: short-term precipitation decrease; MTPD: medium-term precipitation decrease; LTPD: long-term precipitation decrease. The error bars represent 95% CIs and indicate a significant effect when not overlapping with 0. Values in parentheses represent the effect size (Ln(RR)) and the number of observations included in each subgroup. Q(Between) and Prob(Rand) indicate the results of heterogeneity tests among subgroups, with lower p-values suggesting significant differences between groups. Asterisks indicate significance levels: * p < 0.05.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Responses of MBC, bacterial diversity, and C/N invertase activities to precipitation changes along gradients of MAT, MAP, and elevation.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Responses of MBC, bacterial diversity, and C/N invertase activities to precipitation changes along gradients of MAT, MAP, and elevation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Calvin K., Dasgupta D., Krinner G., Mukherji A., Thorne P.W., Trisos C., Romero J., Aldunce P., Barrett K., Blanco G., et al. IPCC, 2023: Section. In: Core Writing Team; Lee H., Romero J., editors. Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC; Geneva, Switzerland: 2023. pp. 35–115. - DOI
    1. Zhang C., Xi N. Precipitation Changes Regulate Plant and Soil Microbial Biomass Via Plasticity in Plant Biomass Allocation in Grasslands: A Meta-Analysis. Front. Plant Sci. 2021;12:614968. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2021.614968. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yu J., Yu Z., Li J., Xie J., Shangguan Z., Deng L. Responses of Soil Microbial Biomass C:N:P Stoichiometry to Increased Precipitation and Nitrogen Deposition in Temperate Shrublands. Eur. J. Soil Biol. 2023;119:103553. doi: 10.1016/j.ejsobi.2023.103553. - DOI
    1. She W., Bai Y., Zhang Y., Qin S., Feng W., Sun Y., Zheng J., Wu B. Resource Availability Drives Responses of Soil Microbial Communities to Short-term Precipitation and Nitrogen Addition in a Desert Shrubland. Frontiers in Microbiology. Front. Microbiol. 2018;9:186. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00186. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen H., Zhao X., Lin Q., Li G., Kong W. Using a Combination of PLFA and DNA-Based Sequencing Analyses to Detect Shifts in the Soil Microbial Community Composition after a Simulated Spring Precipitation in a Semi-Arid Grassland in China. Sci. Total Environ. 2019;657:1237–1245. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.126. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources