The comment was fully considered: the PCA and partial correlation analysis was adopted form the recommended study (e.g., Cheng et al., 2019). Correspondingly, separate subheadings (with new Table 4 and Figure 4) were added. Generally it was considered in Introduction and Materials & Methods, Results and Discussion sections. Such approach helped to analyze the underlying mechanisms.
Response to Reviewer 2 comment On behalf of the co-authors, I am thankful for your valuable comments which helped us to improve the quality of this study.