Effect of managment regimes and herbivory on bacterial communities in the plant rhizosphere. soil metagenome

Rhizobacterial communities play a key role in nutrient cycling and for plant health and growth. However, the impact of management practices and above-ground herbivory on rhizobacterial communities has received little attention. Here we assessed the combined impact of plant functional group composition, fertilizer application, mowing frequency and above-ground herbivory on rhizosphere bacterial communities and their functions. For this purpose, a lysimeter experiment was conducted on a semi-natural German grassland site. Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from the lysimeters following a two-week exposure to herbivory and further investigated by next-generation sequencing.