Temporal-spatial dynamics of distribution patterns of microorganism relating to biological soil crusts in the Gurbantunggut Desert

Biological soil crusts serve as an important biological factor contributing to the sand fixation. This study was conducted to investigate the temporal-spatial variability of microorganism in crusts relating to locations, soil layers of sand dunes and seasons. At moss-dominated inter-dune areas, higher soil nutrient and water concentrations were likely to maintain the microbial activities. Bacteria showed the highest capabilities of settlement and growth in inter-dunes in both spring and autumn. Soil water content reached the highest value in soil crusts in the inter-dune areas, especially in spring. Variations of quantities of actinomyces and fungi basically showed the consistent trend in different locations of sand dunes. With the deepening of soil layers, vertical distribution of quantities of each microorganism group showed different characteristics because environmental factors fluctuated in both spring and autumn. Among different microorganism groups, bacteria were predominant, actinomyces the next and fungi the least in both spring and autumn in all soil layers (0-20 cm). The proportion of bacteria and soil water content were higher in spring than those in autumn in all soil layers (0-20 cm). No consistent trends were found in actinomyces and fungi. The results showed that the quantities of microorganisms were significantly positive correlated with organic matter content, soil water content, total N, total P, available P, available K, pH, electrical conductivity, total salt content, catalase, urease, phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase