Soil classification predicts differences in prokaryotic communities across a range of geographically distant soils once pH is accounted for.

ABSTRACT: Agricultural land is typically managed based on visible plant life at the expense of the belowground majority. However, microorganisms mediate processes sustaining plant life and the soil environment. To understand the role of microbes we first must understand what controls soil microbial community assembly. We assessed the distribution and composition of prokaryotic communities from soils representing four geographic regions on the South Island of New Zealand. These soils are under three different uses (dairy, sheep and beef, and high country farming) and are representative of major soil classification groups (brown, pallic, gley and recent). We hypothesized that pH would account for major community patterns based on 16S profiles, but that land use and location would be secondary modifier

SUBMITTER: Kaminsky R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5368985 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature