Fig. 5: Best-fitting PiecewiseSEM of the direct and indirect paths affecting ectorhizosphere soil ecological stoichiometric characteristics.
The models reveal the paths linking predictor groups (geographic, climatic, dominant plant structural, litter, and edaphic factors) and the microbiome to SC, SN, and SP (a–c), as well as to their ecological stoichiometric ratios (d–f). Significant paths are shown in blue for positive relationships and red for negative relationships, with line width proportional to the absolute value of the standardized path coefficient. Non-significant relationships are indicated by gray lines of uniform width. Litter and ectorhizosphere soil microbial biomass stoichiometric characteristics are represented by PC1 and PC2, respectively. For each model, N = 97. AspectE, east component of aspect; PlantH, dominant plant height; Fisher’s C, statistic used to evaluate overall model fit (with non-significant P values indicating a satisfactory fit); AIC Akaike information criterion, DF degrees of freedom. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001.
