Diversity of Soil Microbial Communities Formed by Different Light Penetrations in Forests

Abstract

The present study investigated variations in soil microbial communities and the chemical properties of forestsoils by differing amounts of penetrating sunlight. The soil temperature was significantly higher in higherlight-penetrated soils. Higher light-penetrated soils (LP70) showed significantly more fungal communitiesthan the lower light-penetrated soils (LP40 and LP50) (p < 0.05). The NH4-N concentration in LP70 wassignificantly lower than those of LP40 and LP50, whereas the other chemical properties showed no significantdifference among the soils. The cy19:0 to 18:1ω7c ratio was significantly lower in LP70 than in LP 40 andLP50 showing the negative correlation of light level with microbial stresses (p < 0.05). The soil microbialcommunities and the chemical properties that showed positive eigenvector coefficients for PC1 were the fungito bacteria, fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and Gram-positive bacteria, whereas negative eigenvectorcoefficients were found for NH4-N, actinomycetes, Gram-negative bacteria, and bacteria. Consequently, theamount of penetrating light was responsible for microbial compositions in the forest soils in correlation withthe concentration of NH4-N and soil temperature.