Soil fungal community and activity under dominant plant species at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico: October 2013

We measured fungal composition and activity in the soil under dominant plant species across a grassland to shrubland transition to determine if shrubs cultivate soil microbial communities as they encroach grasslands. The project was conducted in the northern Chihuahuan desert at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (site of the Sevilleta LTER) in New Mexico on October 20, 2013. Soils were collected under one shrub (Larrea tridentata) and three grass (Bouteloua eriopoda, Bouteloua gracilis, Pleuraphis jamesii) species in grassland, shrubland, and the ecotone region between grasslands and shrublands. Soil fungal communities were evaluated using DNA amplicon sequencing and fungal activity was quantified using several extracellular enzyme activity assays. Soil texture and soil chemistry were also measured.