Abstract
Abstract Desert ephemerals complete rapid life cycles to survive aridity, yet the ontogenetic coordination of below‐ground rhizosphere interactions with above‐ground resource allocation remains unclear. This study examined six dominant ephemeral species ( Eremurus inderiensis , Eremopyrum orientale , Erodium oxyrrhynchum , Allium mongolicum , Alyssum linifolium and Nepeta micrantha ) in the Gurbantünggüt Desert across seedling and flowering stages, integrating plant biomass, rhizosphere metabolites and bacterial communities. This study detected consistent ontogenetic shifts at the overall level: a 44.4% decrease in root: shoot ratio shifting biomass from below‐ground to above‐ground with interspecific variations. Concurrently, rhizosphere metabolic space contracted by 86.4%, with species‐specific metabolic plasticity strongly correlated with biomass reallocation magnitude. Bacterial communities exhibited reduced α‐diversity, simplified co‐occurrence networks and a predicted functional transition from carbon to nitrogen metabolism. Keystone microbe–metabolite associations shifted from carbon‐based linkages at the seedling stage to nitrogen‐centric correlations at flowering, accompanied by stage‐specific turnover of keystone taxa and reconfiguration of microbe–metabolite networks. At the species level, however, the key taxa, metabolites and network dynamics underlying these shifts were highly specific, with divergent niche‐width dynamics and stage‐specific interactions corresponding to host metabolic plasticity. Path modelling revealed a universal, stage‐dependent reversal in biomass drivers: below‐ground biomass was initially supported by broad bacterial niche width, whereas flowering‐stage above‐ground biomass was directly driven by rhizosphere metabolites. These findings demonstrate that host developmental stage orchestrates a phased rhizosphere strategy in desert ephemerals. This strategy synchronizes keystone taxa succession and microbe–metabolite network reconfiguration with plant ontogenetic goals, enabling a conserved shift from microbial‐assisted establishment to metabolite‐driven reproduction despite species‐specific pathways. This study provides novel insights for plant–microbe co‐adaptation in resource‐limited desert ecosystems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Root:shoot ratio of the desert ephemerals decreased by 44.4% from the seedling to the flowering stage.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“a 44.4% decrease in root: shoot ratio”
Claim · model-written summary
Rhizosphere metabolic space contracted by 86.4% across the ontogenetic shift.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“rhizosphere metabolic space contracted by 86.4%”
Claim · model-written summary
Rhizosphere bacterial communities showed reduced α-diversity.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“Bacterial communities exhibited reduced α‐diversity”
Claim · model-written summary
Rhizosphere bacterial co-occurrence networks became simplified.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“simplified co‐occurrence networks”
Claim · model-written summary
Bacterial communities showed a predicted functional transition from carbon to nitrogen metabolism.
- Taxon
- desert ephemeral plantst0
- Outcome
- functional transition from carbon to nitrogen metabolisme0
- Qualifier
- predictede0
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“a predicted functional transition from carbon to nitrogen metabolism”
Claim · model-written summary
Keystone microbe–metabolite associations shifted from carbon-based linkages at the seedling stage to nitrogen-centric correlations at flowering.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“Keystone microbe–metabolite associations shifted from carbon‐based linkages at the seedling stage to nitrogen‐centric correlations at flowering”
Claim · model-written summary
Path modelling indicated that below-ground biomass was initially supported by broad bacterial niche width.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“below‐ground biomass was initially supported by broad bacterial niche width”
Claim · model-written summary
Path modelling indicated that flowering-stage above-ground biomass was directly driven by rhizosphere metabolites.
Verbatim
t0“desert ephemeral plants”
e0“flowering‐stage above‐ground biomass was directly driven by rhizosphere metabolites”