Denitrifiers communities in mountain ecosystem

The Gongga Mountain is the highest mountain in the east boundary of the Tibet Plate, and climate, vegetation and soil properties vary drastically over short spatial distance. In this study, we compared the changes in composition and diversity of soil nirK-harboring and nirS-harboring denitrifier communities along the elevational gradients from 1800 to 4100 m in Gongga Mountain. The objectives of this study were to figure out (1) the difference in mechanism of nirK-harboring and nirS-harboring denitrifier community along the elevational gradients; (2) key factors in explaining nirK-harboring and nirS-harboring denitrifier community in soils along the elevational gradients.