Contrasting bacterial communities in two indigenous Chionochloa (Poaceae) grassland soils in New Zealand.

ABSTRACT: The cultivation of grasslands can modify both bacterial community structure and impact on nutrient cycling as well as the productivity and diversity of plant communities. In this study, two pristine New Zealand grassland sites dominated by indigenous tall tussocks (Chionochloa pallens or C. teretifolia) were examined to investigate the extent and predictability of variation of the bacterial community. The contribution of free-living bacteria to biological nitrogen fixation is predicted to be ecologically significant in these soils; therefore, the diazotrophic community was also examined. The C. teretifolia site had N-poor and poorly-drained peaty soils, and the C. pallens had N-rich and well-drained fertile soils. These soils also differ in the proportion of organic carbon (C), Olsen phosp

SUBMITTER: Griffith JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5489180 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature