Soil microbial communities and functional diversity in stages of degradation in sub-Artic tundra of Iceland.

This is a metagenomic study of soil microbial communities in a sub-Arctic tundra soil from two contrasting degradation stages, less degraded Betula nana heathland, and highly eroded gravel desert from inside and outside of the volcanic active zone of Iceland. 20 shotgun libraries were constructed representing two sites Auðkúluheiði and Þeistareykir, two habitats heath and desert, depths of 0-5 and 5-10, grazing exclusion experiment with fences (F) of 4 years and a control (C).The main goal of this work was to analyze microbial community composition and the community's main functional genes with special emphasis on genes related to carbon cycles. The soil samples represent the main array of the substrate in the area, abiotic physical/chemical conditions, and biotic interactions, each of which may affect microbial community composition. Samples were collected in plant growing season 2019 for the fence experimental design which has 6 pairs of 12x12m plots (Fenced and control) in each habitat at two depths together with 96 samples for physio-chemical properties: soil organic matter (SOM), C/N ratio and pH. The first 3 pairs of the grazing exclusion experiment were chosen to extract soil microbial analyses.