Background Soil microbiome is an important part of the forest ecosystem and participates in forest ecological restoration and reconstruction. Niche differentiation with respect to resources is a prominent hypothesis to account for the maintenance of species diversity in forest ecosystems. Resource-based niche differentiation has driven ecological specialization. Plants influence soil microbial diversity and distribution by affecting the soil environment. However, with the change in plant population type, whether the distribution of soil microbes is random or follows an ecologically specialized manner remains to be further studied. We characterized the soil microbiome (bacteria and fungi) in different plant populations to assess the effects of phytophysiognomy on the distribution patterns of soil microbial communities in a temperate forest in China. Results Our results showed that the distribution of most soil microbes in different types of plant populations is not random but specialized in these temperate forests. The distribution patterns of bacteria and fungi were related to the composition of plant communities. Fungal species (32%) showed higher specialization than bacterial species (15%) for different types of plant populations. Light was the main driving factor of the fungal community, and soil physicochemical factors were the main driving factor of the bacterial community. Conclusion These findings suggest that ecological specialization is important in maintaining local diversity in soil microbial communities in this forest. Fungi are more specialized than bacteria in the face of changes in plant population types. Changes in plant community composition could have important effects on soil microbial communities by potentially influencing the stability and stress resistance of forest ecosystems.

Background and Objectives: The Yellow River is the sixth longest river in the world, and it is considered the mother river of China. Biodiversity conservation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River is an urgent concern due to the impact of topography, sediment deposition, and human activities. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the diversity of plant communities in wetlands along the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River from the perspectives of the natural environment and human disturbance. Materials and Methods: In this study, 830 plots were set up in seven nature reserves in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River to investigate wetland plant diversity. The distribution characteristics of plant diversity and the effects of environmental and human activities on plant diversity were analyzed. Results: (1) A total of 184 plant species belonging to 52 families and 135 genera were found in the seven nature reserves. Network analysis showed that the connectance index was 0.3018. (2) Betadisper analysis followed by ANOVA revealed differences in the community composition of the wetland plants (F = 21.123, p < 0.001) in the different nature reserves. (3) Analysis of variation partitioning indicated that the effects of pure environmental factors (elevation, precipitation, evaporation, and temperature) on the beta diversity of the wetland plants in the nature reserves was the strongest (15.45% and 17.08%, respectively), followed by the effects of pure human disturbance factors (population density, industrial output value, and agricultural output value) (15.13% and 16.71%, respectively). Conclusions: Variations occurred in the assemblage characteristics of the wetland plants in the different Yellow River wetland nature reserves. The wetland species exhibited strong associations with the reserves in the Yellow River wetland in Henan Province. Elevation, longitude, precipitation, and evaporation were important factors that affected the diversity of wetland plants in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in China. The findings provide insights into plant biodiversity conservation in riverine wetlands.