Microbial, Plant, and Soil Impacts on Soil Nutrient Cycling in Harvard Forest and Greater Boston 2021-2022

Microbes are the driving force behind nutrient cycling within soils, secreting enzymes necessary to break down organic matter, immobilizing nutrients and C, or transferring nutrients to plant hosts. Even though nutrients would almost never move through ecosystems without microbes, we know little about how their composition and activity is related to ecosystem nutrient cycling, and their importance relative to plant and soil abiotic factors. In this study, we sought to determine which commonly measured soil microbial community characteristics best explain soil N and P cycling, and the relative contributions of microbial, plant, and abiotic factors in explaining these processes.