Linkages between aboveground and belowground communities are a key but globally under-researched component of responses to environmental change. Given the logistical complications to studying these relationships, much of our knowledge derives from laboratory experiments and localized field studies which have so far yielded inconsistent results. Because environmental factors may alter relationships between above- and belowground communities, there is a need for broad-scale field studies testing these interactions. The Antarctic Peninsula provides an ideal test setting, given the relatively simple communities both above- and belowground. The Peninsula is also experiencing rapid environmental changes, including alterations in species diversity and distribution both above- and belowground. Thus, an improved understanding of the broad-scale consequences of altered environments and vegetation communities for the soil microbiome is of high priority. To determine the nature and strength of the relationship between in situ plant and soil communities across a broad spatial scale and range of environmental conditions, we sampled soil communities at 9 locations (spanning 60–72°S along the Scotia Arc and Antarctic Peninsula) beneath the major aboveground habitats (moss, grass, lichen, algae and bare soil). We measured a comprehensive suite of soil physicochemical properties, microbial (bacterial and fungal) diversity and composition, and invertebrate abundance and community composition to determine the relationships between plant and soil communities. Our results suggest that, with increased environmental severity, plant cover types become more important for influencing the physicochemical soil environment, and therefore the soil microbial communities. Although we found site-specific relationships, broad-scale patterns reveal significant differences among bare soils and vegetated soils, particularly soils beneath grass and moss. This suggests that expansion of vegetation communities under current climate warming projections will be accompanied by shifts in the soil microbiome, with important implications for the ecosystem functioning with which they are associated.

地上和地下社区之间的联系是应对环境变化的一个关键但全球研究不足的组成部分。鉴于研究这些关系的后勤复杂性，我们的大部分知识来自实验室实验和局部实地研究，迄今为止产生了不一致的结果。由于环境因素可能会改变地上和地下社区之间的关系，因此需要进行大规模的实地研究来测试这些相互作用。鉴于地上和地下社区相对简单，南极半岛提供了理想的测试环境。半岛也正在经历快速的环境变化，包括地上和地下物种多样性和分布的改变。因此，提高对环境和植被群落改变对土壤微生物群落的广泛影响的理解是重中之重。确定关系的性质和强度就地植物和土壤群落跨越广泛的空间尺度和环境条件范围，我们在主要地上栖息地（苔藓、草、地衣、藻类）下的 9 个地点（沿斯科舍弧和南极半岛跨越 60-72°S）对土壤群落进行了采样和裸土）。我们测量了一套全面的土壤理化特性、微生物（细菌和真菌）多样性和组成，以及无脊椎动物丰度和群落组成，以确定植物和土壤群落之间的关系。我们的研究结果表明，随着环境严重程度的增加，植物覆盖类型对于影响物理化学土壤环境以及土壤微生物群落变得更加重要。虽然我们发现了特定于站点的关系，大尺度模式揭示了裸土和植被土壤之间的显着差异，特别是草和苔藓下的土壤。这表明，在当前气候变暖预测下，植被群落的扩张将伴随着土壤微生物群的变化，对与之相关的生态系统功能具有重要意义。