Seasonal Dynamics of Soil Multitrophic Biodiversity, Co‐Occurrence Network and Assembly Mechanisms Under Typical Vegetation Restoration Patterns in Karst Region

ABSTRACT

Previous studies often overlooked the dynamic effects of karst vegetation restoration on soil multi‐trophic biodiversity and the underlying community‐assembly mechanisms. To fill this gap, we performed a seasonal comparative analysis of soil biodiversity, co‐occurrence network architecture, and assembly processes across three representative karst restoration patterns (grass, forest‐grass, and forest). During the wet season, the grass pattern exhibited significantly lower biodiversity than both the forest‐grass and forest patterns by 17%–49%. In the dry season, the forest pattern achieved the highest biodiversity indices and displayed minimal seasonal fluctuation. Vegetation type and season jointly shaped soil biotic co‐occurrence networks: the forest–grass pattern generated the greatest network complexity and connectivity, whereas the dry season fostered tighter network structures. The bacterial community was predominantly driven by heterogeneous selection with a relatively high contribution in the wet season, whereas it was dominated by dispersal limitation in the dry season. In contrast, the fungal community was largely influenced by dispersal limitation across seasons. As for the protist and nematode communities, undominated accounted for a relatively high contribution in the wet season, while dispersal limitation became the dominant driver in the dry season. Moreover, soil moisture, nutrient status, biodiversity, and network properties emerged as the principal drivers of assembly, with their pathways varying by taxon and season. Collectively, our reveal integrated regulation of soil biotic communities by restoration pattern and seasonal dynamics in karst ecosystems, offering a robust theoretical basis for soil‐biota recovery.