Values in bold indicate statistical significance. Significance levels are shown at *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001
Full forms of environmental variables are given in Table 1 .
Fig. 1. Map of the study area showing the location of selected sampling sites in Kashmir Himalaya at different altitudes. These sites are Kunzar, Tangmarg, Kashmir University Gulmarg Research Station and Kongdoori.
Fig. 2. Stacked bar chart of the relative abundance of top nine (a) bacterial and (b) fungal phyla in the Leucanthemum vulgare invaded and uninvaded plotsalong an altitudinal gradient in the Kashmir Himalaya. (Full forms of the sample codes are KZ_IN: Kunzar invaded; KZ_UN: Kunzar uninvaded; TM_IN: Tangmarg invaded; TM_UN: Tangmarg uninvaded; KU_IN: Kashmir University Gulmarg Research Station- invaded; KU_UN: Kashmir University Gulmarg Research Station-uninvaded; KD_IN: Kongdoori invaded; KD_UN: Kongdoori uninvaded).
Fig. 3. Patterns of α-diversity for bacterial (a-d) and fungal (e-h) communities in L. vulgare invaded and uninvaded plots along an altitudinal gradient in the Kashmir Himalaya, (Shown are bacterial and fungal observed OTUs (a, e) Chao1 estimator (b, f) Shannon index (c, g) and Simpson index (d, h). Sites are grouped by different colours with increasing altitude (left–right). (Full forms of the sample codes are given in Fig. 2 ).
Fig. 4. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) plot displaying β-diversity (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) for bacterial (a) and fungal (b) communities. The samples are coloured according to the sites along the altitudinal gradient: bright cyan (Kunzar), light yellow (Tangmarg,), green (Kashmir University-Gulmarg Research Station) and bright pink (Kongdoori).
Fig.5 . Principal component analysis (PCA) biplot of L. vulgare invaded and uninvaded plots across the sampling sites along an altitudinal gradient in the Kashmir Himalaya. (Directions and magnitudes of the soil variables driving each axis are also indicated.Full forms of the sample codes are given in Fig. 2 ).
Fig. 6. Canonical Correspondence analysis (CCA) biplot based on the microbial sequencing data and environmental variables for bacteria (a) and fungi (b). (Arrows indicate the direction and magnitude of environmental variables associated with microbial communities. The length of an arrow-line indicates the strength of the relationship between the environmental variable and microbial community. Each green dot represents individual microbial species and red text shows plots of different altitudes.Full forms of the sample codes are given in Fig.2 ).