Bacterial diversity and community composition in grassland and forest soils of the German Biodiversity Exploratories

Bacterial diversity and community composition should be assessed for grassland and forest soils in the three German Biodiversity Exploratories (Schorfheide-Chorin, Hainich-Dun, Schwabische Alb). Grassland soil samples were derived from meadows, pastures or mown pastures that were either fertilized or non-fertilized. Forest soil samples were derived from age class forest, selection forest or natural forest and dominated by either beech, oak, pine or spruce trees.The study focused on the effect of land use, management, fertilization and tree species as well as edaphic parameters onto the bacterial community and diversity to identify drivers of diversity and community composition.