DOI: 10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3gv
title: Cell-size-dependent responses of bacterial communities to warming in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

description: Cell size is a fundamental determinant of bacterial ecology, influencing
 community dynamics, physiological processes, and ecological interactions.
 However, the impacts of climate change—especially warming—on bacteria of
 varying cell sizes remain poorly understood, particularly in sensitive
 ecosystems such as alpine grasslands. In this study, we conducted an
 open-top chamber warming experiment (+1.3 °C) to investigate how warming
 affects bacterial communities across four distinct cell size categories
 (&lt;0.4 μm, 0.4–3.0 μm, 3.0–5.0 μm, and &gt;5.0 μm) in the alpine
 grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Our results show that warming
 differentially impacts bacterial communities depending on cell size. Small
 bacteria (&lt;0.4 μm) were more sensitive to warming, with increased
 richness and diversity, while larger bacteria (3.0–5.0 μm) experienced a
 decline in both diversity and richness. These shifts were accompanied by
 compositional changes, particularly within the &lt;0.4 μm fraction,
 where phyla such as β-Proteobacteria, δ-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and
 Thermotogae decreased, while Actinobacteria increased. Additionally,
 warming decoupled the interactions between large bacteria and soil or
 plant components, while enhancing plant-bacterial coupling for small
 bacteria. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that warming reduced the
 complexity and connectivity of small bacterial communities, making them
 less stable and more influenced by deterministic processes. In contrast,
 warming promoted drift and heterogeneous selection in large bacterial
 communities, highlighting divergent ecological responses based on cell
 size. These findings underscore the critical role of cell size in
 determining bacterial vulnerability to climate change, offering new
 insights into microbial community dynamics in response to global warming.
description: # Cell-size-dependent responses of bacterial communities to warming in the
 alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau DOI:10.5061/dryad.crjdfn3gv
 We have submitted our soil properties data (**metadata.txt**), Bacteria
 classifications information (**Bacteriaclassifications.txt**), and plant
 species identifications information (**Plantspeciesidentifications.txt**)
 ## Descriptions ### metadata * *PlotID*: ID of plot * *Ecosystem type*:
 The experimental ecosystem type * *Treatment*: Warming or Non-warming *
 *Repetition*: Repetition ID * *Soil total phosphorus (TP, g/kg)*: Soil
 total phosphorus concention in experimental plot * *Soil organic carbon
 (SOC, g/kg)*: Soil organic carbon concention in experimental plot * *Soil
 total nitrogen (TN, g/kg)*: Soil total nitrogen concention in experimental
 plot * *Soil ammonium (NH₄⁺, mg/kg)*: Soil ammonium concention in
 experimental plot * *Soil nitrate (NO₃⁻, mg/kg*: Soil nitrate concention
 in experimental plot * *pH*: Soil pH in experimental plot * *Soil bulk
 density*: Soil bulk density in experimental plot * *Soil water content
 (%)*: Soil water content in experimental plot * *Plant aboveground biomass
 (g/m2)*: Plant aboveground biomass in experimental plot * *Plant
 underground biomass (g/m2)*: Plant underground biomass in experimental
 plot * *Plant richness*: Plant richness in experimental plot * *Plant
 Shannon*: Plant Shannon in experimental plot * *Plant Simpson*: Plant
 Simpson in experimental plot * *Plant eveness*: Plant eveness in
 experimental plot ### Bacteriaclassifications * *ASVID*: ID of amplicon
 sequence variants * *Kingdom*: Biological taxonomy in kingdom level of
 amplicon sequence variants * *Phylum*: Biological taxonomy in phylum level
 of amplicon sequence variants * *Class*: Biological taxonomy in class
 level of amplicon sequence variants * *Order*: Biological taxonomy in
 order level of amplicon sequence variants * *Family*: Biological taxonomy
 in family level of amplicon sequence variants * *Genus*: Biological
 taxonomy in genus level of amplicon sequence variants ###
 Plantspeciesidentifications * *Treatment*: Warming or Non-warming *
 *Ecosystem type*: The experimental ecosystem type * *Species name*: Plant
 species name in experimental plot * *Relative height*: Relative plant
 height in experimental plot * *Relative density*: Relative plant density
 in experimental plot * *Relative coverage*: Relative plant coverage in
 experimental plot * *Relative aboveground biomass*: Relative plant
 aboveground biomass in experimental plot