Assessing soil microbial taxonomical and phylogenetic diversity with Next Generation Sequencing techniques: findings from a field study in open and closed forest patches along a soil temperature gradient.

The elevational patterns of plant and animal diversity have been extensively described in ecological theory. However, how soil-temperature gradients and spatial heterogeneity of the forest and its associated root, soil and litter properties affect the diversity of soil microbial communities remains unclear. We studied the effects of a soil-temperature gradient and spatial heterogeneity of forests on taxonomic and phylogenetic patterns of bacterial and fungal communities in plant roots, rhizosphere and bulk soil.

Here, I will present the main findings of this study introducing concepts like phylogenetic clustering and divergence. I would also like to describe the Next Generation Sequencing techniques we use for the study of microbial diversity in soils and stress some of their flaws and strengths.

Overall, our findings highlight the importance of root traits describing the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of bacterial communities but not for fungal communities. As well, our results highlight the importance of spatial heterogeneity of forests to study the soil biodiversity of forests.