Microbial network complexity and diversity together drive the soil ecosystem multifunctionality of forests during different woodland use intensity in dry and wet season

Global change (e.g., woodland use change) affects ecosystem functioning directly by modifying various physicochemical processes and indirectly by altering biological metabolism and interactions. To determine whether woodland use intensity (WUI) affects soil ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) via microbial diversity and network complexity and whether the dry and wet season drivers are the same. We analyzed the relationships of soil EMF to soil microbial (bacteria and fungi) diversity and network complexity, considering the WUI in the monsoon evergreen broad-leaved forest in dry and wet seasons in subtropical China. The findings showed that with increasing of WUI, soil microbial (bacteria and fungi) diversity increased, whereas soil EMF decreased. The microbial network complexity decreased in the dry season but increased in the wet season. Soil EMF was jointly regulated by indirect effects from WUI in addition to microbial diversity and network complexity. WUI and abiotic factors can indirectly affect soil EMF through microbial diversity and network complexity, among which soil water content is the main environmental factor affecting soil EMF in dry season, and fungal diversity is the main factor affecting soil EMF in wet season. In addition to demonstrating how multiple anthropogenic drivers differ in their impact via different pathways on soil EMF components, our results will facilitate the prediction of ecosystem responses to multiple simultaneous environmental changes.