The response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to the soil environment of underground mining subsidence area in northwest China

Fully mechanized mining technology applied over a very large working face is typically utilized for coal underground exploitation in the semiarid area of Northwest China, which triggered two types of land subsidence above the working face, including the margin and center of subsidence area above the goaf edge and center. And our results showed that the soil water content, nutrient content and enzyme activity were significantly decreased with land desertification at the margin of the subsidence area but were less affected by subsidence at the subsidence center. Meanwhile, the responses of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal communities to the soil environment of land subsidence areas have been investigated at the Ningxia Zaoquan coal mining area in northwest China.