Effects of Moso bamboo expansion on soil microbial communities across subtropical forest landscapes

This study investigates how moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) expansion affects soil bacterial communities across subtropical forest landscapes in Jinggangshan, China. Using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene V3-V4 region, we analyzed bacterial communities across different forest types (pure bamboo, mixed bamboo, and non-expanded forests) and soil depths (0-20cm and 20-40cm). The study includes comprehensive analysis of bacterial community composition, assembly processes, and co-occurrence patterns, revealing how bamboo expansion creates novel selective pressures that reshape bacterial communities while maintaining certain ecosystem functions. The dataset comprises 72 soil samples (4 sites x 3 forest types x 3 replicates x 2 soil layers) sequenced on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform.