## 3 Results  
### Differences between Rhizospheric and Bulk Soils  
Rhizospheric (R) and bulk (B) soils showed statistical differences (_p_ < 0.05) in some soil physicochemical properties in both dry and wet seasons (Figure 3). The pH was lower in rhizosphere soils (\(7.7\pm 0.6\) and \(7.8\pm 0.3\), for BmR and BpR, respectively), when compared to the bulk soils (\(8.2\pm 0.1\) and \(8.2\pm 0.1\), for BmB and BpB, respectively), in the dry season (except for Sv; \(p>0.05\)). Significant differences were recorded for redox potentials (Eh) between BmR and BmB, in the wet season, but no changes in Eh between R and B for the three plants in the dry season (Figure 3). Higher TOC contents were recorded for BmR than BmB in both wet and dry seasons, and higher in SvR than SvB at the dry; and no differences in TN across plants, but a higher TS in SvR compared to SvB at dry (Figure 3). Additionally, a significant increase in NH4+ contents for Bm and Bp were  
Figure 3: Soil properties for rhizosphere and bulk soils for _Batis maritima_ (Bm), _Blutaparon portulacoides_ (Bp), and _Sorobolus virginicus_ (Sv) contrasted between dry and wet seasons in the hypersaline tidal flat. TOC: Total Organic Carbon, TN: Total Nitrogen, TS: Total Sulfur, EC: Electric Conductivity, and ESP: Exchangeable Sodium Potential. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at the 5% probability among different plants in the bulk soils. Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences at the 5% probability among different plants in the rhizosphere soils. The symbol (*) represents significant difference (\(p<0.05\)) between bulk and rhizosphere soil for each plant and season. The symbol (+) represents significant seasonal variation (\(p<0.05\)) comparing bulk and rhizosphere soils for each plant species. The absence of the symbols (lowercase letters, uppercase letters, + and *) represents no statistically significant difference between the studied parameters. recorded for the rhizospheric soils compared to bulk soils, but no differences in NO3-, available-P, CCE, EC, ESP, and exchangeable-Ca2+ in both seasons (Figures 3 and 4). Soil nutrients also presented differences between rhizosphere and bulk soils due to seasonal variation. We observed greater content of exchangeable K+ and Na+ and CEC in SvR compared to SvB, and greater exchangeable K+ and Mg2+ for BmR than BmB, all for the dry season (Figure 4). Contrarily, exchangeable-Mg2+ was greater in bulk than rhizosphere soil for Bm and Bp in the wet season, and no significant changes were observed in exchangeable-Ca2+ and ESP (Figure 4). Figure 4: Soil properties for rhizosphere and bulk soils for _Batis martima_ (Bm), _Blutaparon portulacoides_ (Bp), and _Sporoblus virginicus_ (Sv) contrasted between dry and wet seasons in the hypersaline tidal flat. CEC: Cation exchangeable capacity; exch. : exchangeable; sol. : soluble. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences at the 5% probability among different plants in the bulk soils. Different uppercase letters indicate significant differences at the 5% probability among different plants in the rhizosphere soils. The symbol (*) represents significant difference (\(p<0.05\)) between bulk and rhizosphere soil for each plant and season. The symbol (+) represents significant seasonal variation (\(p<0.05\)) comparing bulk and rhizosphere soils for each plant species. The absence of the symbols (lowercase letters, uppercase letters, + and *) represents no statistically significant difference between the studied parameters. Soils across the three plant species, and for both rhizosphere (R) and bulk (B) soils, were predominantly sandy, and we found no statistical differences in texture between R and B for the three plant species for sand, silt, and clay particle sizes (Table S1). The overall average content for all soils was 871 g kg\({}^{-1}\) of sand, 92 g kg\({}^{-1}\) of silt, and 37 g kg\({}^{-1}\) of clay.