Coastal wetlands soil bacterial community along inundation gradients

The continued sea level rise has strong impacts on coastal wetlands worldwide. Exotic cordgrass Spartina alterniflora (SA) has spread along most eastern coastlines of China over the past few decades which significantly influences the native mangrove ecosystems. However, little is known about the responses of soil bacterial community to sea level rise and their differences between mangrove and SA wetlands. In this study, we compared the responses of soil bacterial community to rising sea level between native mangrove Kandelia obovata (KO) and invasive SA, and unveiled their associations with plant seedling biomass using a marsh organ with continued inundation gradients.