Response of soil microbial communities to site preparation before afforestation

Abstract

Site preparation is a common practice before afforestation that can increase soil carbon (C) release by changing the soil microbial community. This study examined changes in soil microbial communities at two different times (the 7th and 98th days) after site clearing (brush clearing vs. controlled burning), followed by soil preparation (overall soil preparation (OP), spot soil preparation (SP), and no soil preparation (NP)). Results showed that total, bacterial, fungal, and actinomycetic phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) increased in controlled burning plots compared with brush clearing plots at the two sampling times. Within brush clearing plots, OP significantly reduced the total, bacterial, fungal, and actinomycetic PLFAs, whereas SP showed a significant increase in these groups compared with NP. In addition, soil microbial community showed obvious seasonal variation in brush clearing plots. Within controlled burning plots, OP significantly decreased the total, bacterial, fungal, and actinomycetic PLFAs...