Additions of sugar and nitrogenous fertiliser affect soil microbial communities

Soil microorganisms are essential to the functioning of soil ecosystems, and this study aimed to examine the effects of additions of carbon and nitrogen (N) to the soil on soil microflora, and whether these amendments could be used to both increase and reduce plant N concentrations in an orchard crop, thereby facilitating studies on the multitrophic interactions among the components of the orchard ecosystem. Next generation sequencing was used to examine bacterial and fungal populations within the test soils.