Determining the Role of Soil Communities in Litter Decomposition

Litter fall is exists at the interface between soil habitat and the receeding effects of the phylosphere. We sought to determine the rate and quality of litter decomposition by the phylosphere microbiome versus litter incubated with soil. We compared the decomposition of nine different litter types, while measuring the metabolites produced and the bacterial community via 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing.