Beta (β) diversity
For bacterial β-diversity, the results of ANOSIM revealed significant
differences among the sampling sites with stress value = 0.063, R =
0.6997 and p < 0.05(Fig.4a) , thereby
indicating that altitude has a significant role in shaping the structure
of the soil bacterial community. For soil fungal communities, more
distinct clustering in terms of sites was observed and ANOSIM once again
showed significant differences among the sites with stress value of
0.073, R = 0.5955 and p < 0.05 (Fig.4b) .
Therefore, the results clearly demonstrate that both the soil bacterial
and fungal communities are highly influenced by altitude.