The symbiosis between tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceum) and a shoot-specific fungal endophyte (Neotyphodium coenophialum) has been relatively well studied but little attention has been given to how this relationship may impact the soil microbial community. Understanding how the symbiosis may structure soil microbial communities is important for understanding the cascade of effects that this sy...

Changes in litterfall dynamics and soil properties due to anthropogenic or natural perturbations have important implications to soil carbon (C) and nutrient cycling via microbial pathway. Here we determine soil microbial responses to contrasting types of litter inputs (leaf vs. fine woody litter) and nitrogen (N) deposition by conducting a multi-year litter manipulation and N addition experimen...

Soil microbial communities may be able to rapidly respond to changing environments in ways that change community structure and functioning, which could affect climate-carbon feedbacks. However, detecting microbial feedbacks to elevated CO(2) (eCO(2) ) or warming is hampered by concurrent changes in substrate availability and plant responses. Whether microbial communities can persistently feed ...

The soil microbial community in reclaimed mining areas is fundamental to vegetative establishment. However, how this community responds to different regeneration scenarios and fertilizer treatments is poorly understood. This research evaluated plant and soil microbial communities from different regeneration scenarios and different fertilizer treatments. Regeneration scenarios significantly infl...

*Plant seasonal cycles alter carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability for soil microbes, which may affect microbial community composition and thus feed back on microbial decomposition of soil organic material and plant N availability. The temporal dynamics of these plant-soil interactions are, however, unclear. *Here, we experimentally manipulated the C and N availability in a beech forest thro...

Moisture may limit microbial activity in a wide range of environments including salt water, food, wood, biofilms, and soils. Low water availability can inhibit microbial activity by lowering intracellular water potential and thus reducing hydration and activity of enzymes. In solid matrices, low water content may also reduce microbial activity by restricting substrate supply. As pores within so...

Biological activity can accelerate soil processes and can thus have profound effects on weathering and the transformation of phosphorus (P). Here we show that the transformation of P is closely linked to soil development across an about 9000 years old soil chronosequence formed through glacial rebound. Easily weathered forms of P such as apatite are rapidly lost from the surface mineral horizon...

Wildfires affecting forest ecosystems and post-fire silvicultural treatments may cause considerable changes in soil properties. The capacity of different microbial groups to recolonise soil after disturbances is crucial for proper soil functioning. The aim of this work was to investigate some microbial soil properties and enzyme activities in semiarid and dry Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis M.) f...

Nanosized zero-valent iron (nZVI) is an effective land remediation tool, but there remains little information regarding its impact upon and interactions with the soil microbial community. nZVI stabilised with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was applied to soils of three contrasting textures and organic matter contents to determine impacts on soil microbial biomass, phenotypic (phospholipid fatty...

Tillage practices affect soil microorganisms, which in turn influence many processes essential to the function and sustainability of soil. In this study, the changes in soil microbial biomass and community composition in response to conventional tillage (CT, moldboard plowing and post-harvest residue removal) and no-tillage (NT) practices were examined during a maize (Zea mays L.) growing seaso...