02668naa a2200253 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000190006024501690007926000090024852018670025765000200212465000230214465000260216765000250219365000180221870000230223670000210225970000170228070000220229770000180231970000190233777300580235611334872023-08-17       2023    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aTOAMAZELLI, D.  aNatural grassland conversion to cultivated pastures increases soil microbial niche specialization with consequences for ecological processes.h[electronic resource]  c2023  aThe conversion of natural grasslands to cultivated pastures has a profound effect on the soil habitat conditions, influencing the proportion of soil specialist and generalist microbes, with consequences for the assembly of microbial communities. This often leads to the homogenization of the microbial community and thus favoring stochastic assembly processes. However, there is still a gap in understanding the effect of conversion from natural grasslands to cultivated pastures on soil microbial ecological processes. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the assembly patterns of microbial communities and evaluate the ecological models for generalists and specialist microbes along a grassland management intensification gradient. Through 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we found that the conversion of natural grasslands to cultivated pastures has increased the number of microbial specialists, resulting in stochastic assembly processes due to the decrease in plant diversity. Moreover, the ecological processes governing the assembly of microbial communities were affected by soil and vegetation management. The perennial pasture was more affected by homogenizing selection, owing to the lower plant diversity and uniform plant covering and root development. We have found that the generalists in the grasslands are shaped by niche-based models, while the specialists in natural grasslands are more stochastic in nature. For improved pastures, we have found that lognormal and preemption models are more predominant, suggesting that homogenizing dispersal is more predominant than variable selection. We highlight it is essential to comprehend these assembly models and ecological processes to ensure plant-microbe supporting and provisioning ecosystem services for cattle, and humans while establishing management strategies and conservation policy priorities  aAssembly models  aGrassland microbes  aMicrobial specialists  aNiche specialization  aRare microbes1 aKLAUBERG FILHO, O.1 aMENDES, S. D. C.1 aPINTO, C. E.1 aCAMACHO, P. A. G.1 aMENDES, L. W.1 aGOSS-SOUZA, D.  tApplied Soil Ecology, Amsterdagn. 188, p. 1-5, 2023.