Soil bacterial community dynamics in four alpine vegetation types along elevation gradient and seasons in Western Himalaya, India.

High altitude alpine ecosystems are one of the most climate sensitive regions of the world and are expected to experience greater temperature rise than the global average. Increase in temperature can accelerate soil organic carbon decomposition rate and enhance carbon dioxide emissions from soil. Since alpine ecosystems store a large stock of soil organic carbon, this may lead to a positive feedback to climate warming. In this context, although soil bacterial community play a key role in the decomposition process, limited information is available regarding their response to environmental changes. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of vegetation types (subalpine forest, alpine scrub, alpine meadow and morainic soil) and seasons on soil bacterial community along elevation gradient in Western Himalaya, India. We also evaluated the influence of environmental factors on soil bacterial community diversity and composition. Data generated forms the baseline to understand the impacts of climate warming on soil bacterial community in high altitude alpine ecosystems.