Effects of tourism development on ecological network and function of sediment microbial communities in the urban wetland park

Abstract

Tourism development influenced the ecological network of microbial communities. Regulating mechanism of intra- and inter-domain networks was clarified. Macrophyte coverage reduces microbial network complexity and stability. Landscaping may promote nitrogen and phosphorus cycle in wetland watershed. Numerous urban wetland parks have been established, yet the understanding of microbial interactions in response to tourism development is still limited. This study aims to elucidate the impact of tourism development on the complexity and stability of molecular ecological networks within the microbial communities of wetland sediments. Through an analysis of sediments properties, microorganism intra- and inter-domain co-occurrence characteristics in three different wetland functional areas (conservation, landscaping, and recreation areas), we found that tourism development influenced sediment physicochemical properties. These changes regulated the diversity and ecological networks of archaeal and bacterial communities. Specifically, areas with landscaping (LA) exhibited reduced network connectivity and robustness, suggesting that macrophyte coverage diminishes the complexity and stability of microbial communities in wetland parks. Notably, the transition from conservation areas (CA) to LA strengthened the correlations between microbial network modules and sediment total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), potentially enhancing the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles in wetlands. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that both abiotic factors (TC, TP, TN, K, Mg, pH) and biotic factors (archaeal and bacterial α-diversity) can influence interdomain network complexity, accounting for 42% of the variation. Among these factors, sediment TN exerted the largest positive effect on network complexity (37.9%), while Mg had the most negative impact (59.8%). This study provides valuable insights for ecological assessments of urban wetlands and can inform strategies for effective wetland ecosystem management.