16S rRNA sequencing of soil microbial communities in undisturbed cemetery and matched field pairs

Microbial community composition in undisturbed cemetery soils and surrounding agricultural fields or suburban lawns was determined to examine the effect of human disturbance on soil microbiology. We sampled soil from six matched cemetery-field pairs in Wicomico County, Maryland. Four field samples were from agricultural fields and two field samples were from suburban lawns. Previous research had demonstrated significant chemical differences between the field and cemetery soils, we hypothesized there would also be microbial community differences between cemetery and field soils.