Soil microbial communities in subtropical forests

The study was performed in Dianjiang County, Chongqing Municipality, within a subtropical monsoon climate zone. Three typical forest types were selected in the study area—coniferous forest, mixed conifer–broadleaf forest, and broadleaf forest—which covered altitude ranges of 400–600 m, 600–800 m, and 800–1000 m as gradients. Soil samples were gathered from both topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm), yielding 108 mixed samples. This study investigated bacterial and fungal communities in topsoil and subsoil across three forest types along altitudinal gradients in subtropical areas to explore their diversity, composition, interaction patterns, assembly processes, and influencing factors.