Divergent rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil microbial structure and function in long‐term warmed steppe due to altered root exudation

Abstract While there is an extensive body of research on the influence of climate warming on total soil microbial communities, our understanding of how rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil microorganisms respond to warming remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the impact of 4 years of soil warming on the diversity and composition of microbial communities in the rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil of a temperate steppe, focusing on changes in root exudation rates and exudate compositions. We used open top chambers to simulate warming conditions, resulting in an average soil temperature increase of 1.1°C over a span of 4 years. Our results showed that, in the non‐rhizosphere soil, warming had no significant impact on dissolved organic carbon concentrations, compositions, or the abundance of soil microbial functional genes related to carbon and nitrogen cycling. Moreover, soil microbial diversity and community composition remained largely unaffected, although warming resulted in increased complexity of soil bacteria and fungi in the non‐rhizosphere soil. In contrast, warming resulted in a substantial decrease in root exudate carbon (by 19%) and nitrogen (by 12%) concentrations and induced changes in root exudate compositions, primarily characterized by a reduction in the abundance in alcohols, coenzymes and vitamins, and phenylpropanoids and polyketides. These changes in root exudation rates and exudate compositions resulted in significant shifts in rhizosphere soil microbial diversity and community composition, ultimately leading to a reduction in the complexity of rhizosphere bacterial and fungal community networks. Altered root exudation and rhizosphere microbial community composition therefore decreased the expression of functional genes related to soil carbon and nitrogen cycling. Interestingly, we found that changes in soil carbon‐related genes were primarily driven by the fungal communities and their responses to warming, both in the rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil. The study of soil microbial structure and function in rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil provides an ideal setting for understanding mechanisms for governing rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil carbon and nitrogen cycles. Our results highlight the distinctly varied responses of soil microorganisms in the rhizosphere and non‐rhizosphere soil to climate warming. This suggests the need for models to address these processes individually, enabling more accurate predictions of the impacts of climate change on terrestrial carbon cycling.