Primary producers shape terrestrial biodiversity, but most research has focused on vascular plants, while the role of cryptogams (mosses, lichens and algae) remains under-explored. Cryptogams dominate Antarctic vegetation and support diverse microarthropod communities. However, how cryptogam traits influence these communities remains poorly understood. We therefore investigated the role of 28 cryptogam species and one vascular plant, via their functional traits, in shaping microarthropod communities across three contrasting sites (Signy Island, Byers Peninsula and Rothera) in the maritime Antarctic. We hypothesized that vegetation nitrogen and moisture content, major microarthropod taxa, and abiotic drivers interact to influence community patterns.
Vegetation type effects on total microarthropod abundance were context-dependent. Mosses hosted more microarthropods than lichens at Signy Island, but these differences diminished further south. Microarthropod richness and springtail abundance were consistently higher in mosses than lichens across all sites, whereas mite abundance did not differ between vegetation types.
Cryptogam nitrogen and moisture content strongly predicted microarthropod community patterns, although their influence varied with vegetation type and location. Among mosses, moisture increased springtail abundance but reduced diversity due to the dominance of Cryptopygus antarcticus. In lichens, nitrogen had a stronger influence than in mosses, particularly on mite abundance and Shannon diversity. As hypothesized, moisture was more important at the harshest southern site, while nitrogen had stronger effects at more productive northern locations.
These findings emphasize that the influence of cryptogam traits in structuring Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity is modulated by the environmental context. With future shifts predicted in vegetation composition, the functional traits of emerging dominant species may restructure microarthropod communities and their ecological functions.
Theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that biodiversity, species coexistence, and community stability are interconnected; however, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain poorly understood, particularly in aquatic ecosystems mediated by macrophytes. Here, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of microbial communities in bulk and Phragmites australis rhizosphere across 26 lake littoral zones of typical plain and plateau in China, and evaluated the microbial stability based on the community mean tolerance breadth, community mean response asynchrony, and network stability. We found the rhizosphere significantly enhanced bacterial and fungal richness, community mean tolerance breadth, and niche breadth compared to bulk. This enhancement was primarily driven by an overall increase in species richness, rather than by selectively promoting generalists or specialists. Rhizosphere microbial members displayed increased niche overlap and species competition, along with enhanced network complexity and stability, both within and between bacterial and fungal communities. Structural equation modeling indicated that fungal taxa exhibited a competitive advantage over bacterial members in maintaining community stability within the rhizosphere. Therefore, our study demonstrates that the rhizosphere enhances microbial community stability primarily by expanding overall species richness and intensifying competitive interactions. These findings advance the understanding of plant-mediated microbiome stabilization and have significant implications for predicting ecosystem resilience in freshwater habitats under environmental change.

