Sand dune topsoil Targeted Locus (Loci). soil metagenome

To unravel the variations of microbial community compositions in the topsoil at different positions of sand dune (stoss slope, crest, lee slope and interdune) from the Gurbantunggut Desert, the largest semi-fixed desert in China. Soil samples were collected in July 2012 from the southern part of the Gurbantunggut Desert, China. Topsoil at a depth of 0–2 cm at the stoss slope (DS), lee slope (DL), dune crest (DC) and interdune (ID) of sand dunes were sampled.