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The underground community of soil organisms, known as soil biota, plays a critical role in terrestrial ecosystems. Different ecosystems exhibit varied responses of soil organisms to soil physical and chemical properties (SPCPs). However, our understanding of how soil biota react to different soil depths in naturally established population of salinity tolerant Tamarix ramosissima in desert ecosystems, remains limited. To address this, we employed High-Throughput Illumina HiSeq Sequencing to examine the population dynamics of soil bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and metazoa at six different soil depths (0–100 cm) in the naturally occurring T. ramosissima dominant zone within the Taklimakan desert of China. Our observations reveal that the alpha diversity of bacteria, fungi, metazoa, and protists displayed a linear decrease with the increase of soil depth, whereas archaea exhibited an inverse pattern. The beta diversity of soil biota, particularly metazoa, bacteria, and protists, demonstrated noteworthy associations with soil depths through Non-Metric Dimensional Scaling analysis. Among the most abundant classes of soil organisms, we observed Actinobacteria, Sordariomycetes, Halobacteria, Spirotrichea, and Nematoda for bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and metazoa, respectively. Additionally, we identified associations between the vertical distribution of dominant biotic communities and SPCPs. Bacterial changes were mainly influenced by total potassium, available phosphorus (AP), and soil water content (SWC), while fungi were impacted by nitrate (NO 3 -) and available potassium (AK). Archaea showed correlations with total carbon (TC) and AK thus suggesting their role in methanogenesis and methane oxidation, protists with AP and SWC, and metazoa with AP and pH. These correlations underscore potential connections to nutrient cycling and the production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GhGs). This insight establishes a solid foundation for devising strategies to mitigate nutrient cycling and GHG emissions in desert soils, thereby playing a pivotal role in the advancement of comprehensive approaches to sustainable desert ecosystem management. • Soil nutrients and diversity of soil biota across different soil depths in Tamarix ramosissima was investigated. • Declining pattern in the alpha diversity of soil biota was recorded with an increase in soil depth except archaea. • The most prevalent classes were Actinobacteria, Sordariomycetes, Halobacteria, Spirotrichea, and Nematoda. • AP and SWC influenced bacteria and protists, while AK affected fungi and archaea and metazoa by AP and pH. • Our findings provide a new perspective on the vertical distribution of soil biota in T. ramosissima in desert ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigated community composition of soil bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists & metazoa across diverse soil profiles. • Observed declining alpha diversity of bacteria, archaea, and protists with soil depth, contrasting with fungi and metazoa. • Identified prominent classes like Actinobacteria, Sordariomycetes, Nitrososphaeria, Spirotrichea, and Nematoda. • Bacterial changes linked to TK, fungal dynamics to TN. Archaea influenced by AK, protists by NO 3 and metazoa by SWC. • Article offers new insights into soil biota's vertical distribution and response in K. caspia within desert ecosystem. Soil organisms play a pivotal role in terrestrial ecosystems, sparking growing curiosity about the comprehensive diversity of subterranean biota across large ecological levels. Soil inhabitants' exhibit varied responses to soil physicochemical properties (SPPs) across desert ecosystem. Yet, the knowledge of their population dynamics across different soil depths (SDs) in the indigenous natural dominant zone of Karelinia caspia , a primary desert shrub in China, remains limited. This study employed advanced illumina sequencing to assess soil bacteria, fungi, archaea, protist, and metazoa populations across six distinct SDs (0 to 100 cm) within the K. caspia desert landscape. Our findings indicate a descending alpha diversity pattern in bacteria, archaea, and protists as soil depth increases, contrary to fungi and metazoa, which exhibit the opposite trend. SDs significantly shape soil biota beta diversity, notably impacting bacteria, protists, and fungi, as revealed by Non-Metric Dimensional Scaling. Prominent classes include Actinobacteria, Sordariomycetes, Nitrososphaeria, Spirotrichea, and Nematoda for soil bacteria, fungi, archaea, protists, and metazoa, respectively. Correlation analysis between predominant biotic communities' vertical distribution and SPPs variations revealed total potassium (TK) and pH's pronounced influence on bacteria, while fungi were affected by total nitrogen (TN) and soil water content (SWC). Archaea exhibit sensitivity to SWC, available potassium (AK), and available phosphorus (AP); protists respond to C/N-Ratio, nitrate (NO 3), and total phosphorus (TP); metazoa correlate with SWC, pH, and NO 3. Overall, these findings offer valuable insights regarding population fluctuations of soil biota within naturally established K. caspia across vertical soil strata within China's desert ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]