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OPEN
received: 25 September 2014 accepted: 26 March 2015 Published: 06 May 2015
Analyses of soil microbial community compositions and functional genes reveal potential consequences of natural forest succession Jing Cong1, 2, Yunfeng Yang3, Xueduan Liu2, Hui Lu1, Xiao Liu1, Jizhong Zhou3, 4, Diqiang Li1, Huaqun Yin2, Junjun Ding3 & Yuguang Zhang1 The succession of microbial community structure and function is a central ecological topic, as microbes drive the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. To elucidate the response and mechanistic underpinnings of soil microbial community structure and metabolic potential relevant to natural forest succession, we compared soil microbial communities from three adjacent natural forests: a coniferous forest (CF), a mixed broadleaf forest (MBF) and a deciduous broadleaf forest (DBF) on Shennongjia Mountain in central China. In contrary to plant communities, the microbial taxonomic diversity of the DBF was significantly (P
OPEN
received: 25 September 2014 accepted: 26 March 2015 Published: 06 May 2015
Analyses of soil microbial community compositions and functional genes reveal potential consequences of natural forest succession Jing Cong1, 2, Yunfeng Yang3, Xueduan Liu2, Hui Lu1, Xiao Liu1, Jizhong Zhou3, 4, Diqiang Li1, Huaqun Yin2, Junjun Ding3 & Yuguang Zhang1 The succession of microbial community structure and function is a central ecological topic, as microbes drive the Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. To elucidate the response and mechanistic underpinnings of soil microbial community structure and metabolic potential relevant to natural forest succession, we compared soil microbial communities from three adjacent natural forests: a coniferous forest (CF), a mixed broadleaf forest (MBF) and a deciduous broadleaf forest (DBF) on Shennongjia Mountain in central China. In contrary to plant communities, the microbial taxonomic diversity of the DBF was significantly (P
