Effects of N addition on soil bacterial community Raw sequence reads. Effects of N addition on soil bacterial community

Elevated N deposition in terrestrial ecosystems is a major threat to global biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles. An arid ecosystem limited by N might be remarkably sensitive to current and predicted increase in N deposition, but associated ecosystem-specific responses, specifically the interactions between plants and soil microbes under enhanced N deposition, are not well studied to date. Here, the effects of N enrichment on plant community diversity, soil abiotic and biotic properties, and bacterial community diversity were assessed by applying different concnetrations of N (NH4NO3) for 2 years in a desert steppe in northwestern China.