Abstract: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous soil fungi in natural and agricultural ecosystems, which can form symbiotic associations with the majority of terrestrial plants and have important ecological functions. To compare the AMF communities between desert and steppe ecosystems, and to reveal the key influencing factors for AMF diversity, we collected rhizosphere soil samples from both zonal and non-zonal desert and steppe in Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, China. The community structure of the soil AMF was investigated using Illumina Miseq sequencing platform. In total, 159 AMF operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were detected, belonging to 1 class, 3 orders, 5 families and 8 genera, among which, Glomus was the dominant genus in both desert and steppe ecosystems. The AMF richness, Shannon diversity, phylogenetic diversity in steppe was higher than those in desert (both zonal and non-zonal vegetation regions). A remarkable difference in AMF community structure between desert and steppe ecosystems was noted in zonal vegetation region. However, there was no significant difference in AMF community structure between non-zonal desert and steppe. Correlation analysis clearly reflected the relationship between environmental factors and AMF community structure and diversity, and variation partitioning showed that soil properties and climate factors were more important than plant community and geographic distance in determining AMF community structure. In summary, the soil AMF communities of desert and steppe were mainly shaped by soil properties and climate factors. This study provided support for the potential use of AMF for ecological control of grassland desertification.

Key words: strip covering, plastic film mulching, winter wheat., soil temperature, semiarid area, maize straw