Changes in the soil microbial community of Castanopsis fargesii along an elevation gradient in a Chinese subtropical forest

Castanopsis fargesii is the dominant species in the southeastern forest ecosystem in China. However, little is known about the soil microbial community in the stands of Castanopsis fargesii along the elevation gradient. In this study, we collected topsoil (0-10 cm) under five small-scale altitudinal gradients (from 500 to 900 m above mean sea level) in a Chinese subtropical forest to measure its physicochemical properties and performed Illumina high-throughput sequencing to analyse microbial diversity and community composition change characteristics.