Functional type of nurse plants determines primary soil bacterial succession. Functional type of nurse plants determines primary soil bacterial succession

This study aimed to determine the impact of plant-nurse development on soil bacterial community during primary succession. Surface soil samples from semiarid Mediterranean mining deposits were collected in open spaces (no vegetation) and below the canopy of different nurse-plants (13 species) at different growth stages ranging from seedling to mature individuals. We further pyrosequenced 16S rRNA genes to investigate belowground bacterial community.