Effects of Hedysarum leguminous plants on soil bacterial communities in the Mu Us Desert, northwest China

This study assessed the influence of rhizocompartment types (i.e., root, rhizosphere soil, root‐zone soil, and intershrub bulk soil) on the diversity of soil microbial communities under desert leguminous plant shrubs. Moreover, the influence and variations of soil physicochemical factors in interactions among leguminous plants, soil, and microbes were investigated. Both 16S rRNA high‐throughput genome sequencing and conventional soil physicochemical index determination were used to characterize both the bacterial diversity and soil physicochemical properties in the rhizocompartments of two Hedysarum species (Hedysarum mongolicum and Hedysarum scoparium) in the Mu Us Desert of China. All nutrient indices (except total phosphorus and available phosphorus) in rhizosphere soil were uniformly higher than those in both root‐zone soil and intershrub bulk soil (p