Effects of land use on soil microbial biomass, activity and community structure at different soil depths in the Danube floodplain

摘要

Human activities such as land use and-management may strongly affect the soil's ability to provide ecosystem services, in which microbes are playing a key role. Because sampling is usually restricted to the topsoil, little is known about effects of land use on ecosystem functioning down the soil profile. The present study assessed the effects of different land use types (arable, forest, grassland) on soil microbial biomass, activity and community structure at different soil depths (A, AC, C horizons), under the same climatic and pedological conditions, in the Danube Floodplain in Austria.