Long-term impacts of increased nitrogen deposition on forest soil microbial communities

The goal of this study was to determine the effects of higher nitrogen atmospheric deposition on soil bacterial and fungal communities in eastern Canadian forests. For 16 years (2001 to 2017), nitrogen deposition was simulated by adding ammonium nitrate monthly during the growth season period (June-October) directly on soil at three forest sites. Total DNA was isolated from soil horizons L, F, and H. Regions of bacterial 16S rRNA and fungal ITS genes were subsequently amplified by PCR and amplicons were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq 250 bps platform.