Soil microbial communities shift along an urban gradient in Berlin, Germany

• DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.972052
• Publication Date: 2022-08-12T06:51:56Z
• Authors: James Whitehead; Julien Roy; Stefan Hempel; Matthias C. Rillig
• Keywords: Urbanity

The microbial communities inhabiting urban soils determine the functioning of these soils, in regards to their ability cycle nutrients and support plant communities. In an increasingly urbanized world properties are utmost importance, responsible worthy exploration. We used 53 grassland sites spread across Berlin describe explain impacts urbanity other environmental parameters upon diversity community composition four groups. These groups were (i) Fungi, with a separate dataset for (ii) Glomeromycota, (iii) Bacteria, (iv) protist phylum Cercozoa. found that had distinct on fungal richness, which tended increase. Geographic distance between soil chemistry, addition urbanity, drove composition, site connectivity being important Glomeromycotan communities, potentially due host Our findings suggest many species well adapted as supported by increase far more common result than reverse. However, we also distinctly distributions operational taxonomic unit (OTU)s from same species, shedding doubt reliability indicator use taxonomy draw conclusion functionality. observational study employed extensive set gradient, region German capital, produce rich dataset; such it can serve blueprint investigations.