The data of ant mounds morphological characteristics and soil microarthropods in the Tengger Desert

This study investigated the effects of different-sized mounds on the diversity of soil microarthropods in revegetated plantations of the Tengger Desert. Within revegetated plantations, we measured ant mound size and then collected soil microarthropods from both mound and open space for the calculation of alpha and beta diversity.

We found that ant mound significantly increased the abundance and alpha diversity (richness, Shannon index, and Simpson index) of soil microarthropods, but significantly reduced their beta diversity. Furthermore, small mounds had a stronger influence on the alpha diversity of soil microarthropods compared to large ant mounds, while both large and small mound showed similar negative effects on the beta diversity. Piecewise structural equation model (pSEM) showed that ant activity directly reduced soil microarthropod alpha diversity, but indirectly increased it via mound size-mediated soil kalium enrichment.