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Purpose <p>Winter snow cover serves as a crucial water resource for plant growth in water-limited desert ecosystems. However, the response of soil physicochemical properties and soil multifunctionality to changes in snow cover remains unclear.</p> Materials and methods <p>We manipulated snow depth at four levels: snow removal (SR), ambient snow, double snow (DS), and triple snow (TS) in the Gurbantunggut Desert starting in 2017. Soil samples were collected in March, May, August, and November of 2018.</p> Results and discussion <p>Results indicated a significant increase in soil water content in March with increased snow depth, and an increase in soil pH throughout the year. Additionally, increased snow cover accelerated the mineralization of nitrogen and phosphorus, enhancing available nitrogen and phosphorus content in the soil and further exacerbating nitrogen limitation in desert areas. Concurrently, soil multifunctionality changed and exhibited a synergistic trend with snow cover variation throughout the year. Structural equation modeling revealed that species richness and soil pH were key environmental factors regulating soil multifunctionality, with soil pH having a significant positive effect.</p> Conclusion <p>These findings suggested that snow-cover depth influences the dynamics of soil physicochemical properties and soil multifunctionality in the Gurbantunggut desert. This study provides insights into how changes in winter snow cover depth affect soil nutrients and ecosystem functions in temperate desert ecosystems and offers predictions for the evolution of desert ecosystems under global change.</p>

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Soil pH and richness are the key environmental factor affecting soil multifunctionality in arid deserts, Northwest China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月10日

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  • Zihui Ren,
  • Lei Shi,
  • Ni Ren,
  • Xiaobing Zhou,
  • Yonggang Li,
  • Ruzhen Wang,
  • Ailin Zhang,
  • Jinfei Yin

摘要

Purpose

Winter snow cover serves as a crucial water resource for plant growth in water-limited desert ecosystems. However, the response of soil physicochemical properties and soil multifunctionality to changes in snow cover remains unclear.

Materials and methods

We manipulated snow depth at four levels: snow removal (SR), ambient snow, double snow (DS), and triple snow (TS) in the Gurbantunggut Desert starting in 2017. Soil samples were collected in March, May, August, and November of 2018.

Results and discussion

Results indicated a significant increase in soil water content in March with increased snow depth, and an increase in soil pH throughout the year. Additionally, increased snow cover accelerated the mineralization of nitrogen and phosphorus, enhancing available nitrogen and phosphorus content in the soil and further exacerbating nitrogen limitation in desert areas. Concurrently, soil multifunctionality changed and exhibited a synergistic trend with snow cover variation throughout the year. Structural equation modeling revealed that species richness and soil pH were key environmental factors regulating soil multifunctionality, with soil pH having a significant positive effect.

Conclusion

These findings suggested that snow-cover depth influences the dynamics of soil physicochemical properties and soil multifunctionality in the Gurbantunggut desert. This study provides insights into how changes in winter snow cover depth affect soil nutrients and ecosystem functions in temperate desert ecosystems and offers predictions for the evolution of desert ecosystems under global change.