Impact of land use changes on diversity and functionality of soil microbial communities in two contrasting localities of the Argentinian Pampas.

Changes in land use can significantly impact soil conditions, and while microbial communities are likely to respond, there is a lack of research exploring the specific influences of edaphic changes on soil bacterial communities across different land-use types and how this response can be modulated by its geographical location. Therefore, the objective of this work was to assess the effects of four different land uses on soil chemical and biochemical properties and to examine how varying localities influence microbial community structure, bacterial diversity, and functionality. The study took place in two contrasting regions of the Argentinian Pampas, Anguil in the Dry Pampas, and Pergamino in the humid Pampas, where medium-term experiments were conducted to assess the combined effects of four land uses: monoculture (MO), crop rotation with cover crops (RO), pasture (PA), and a pristine control environment (PI).