Bacterial communities’ response to nitrogen, lime, and plants

The impact of anthropogenic activities on soil biodiversity is central to our understanding of the links between soil functional diversity, species diversity, and overall ecosystem functioning. Agricultural improvement of natural upland pastures is widespread in NW Europe, with increased fertilization, liming, and grazing producing a shift in the floristic composition of acidic upland grasslands [1, 2]. Such intensification practices result in a gradual shift from a plant species-rich Agrostis capillaris pasture to a species-poor grassland dominated by Lolium perenne [3], with concurrent changes in soil physicochemical properties [1, 4, 5], most notably soil nutrient status. Nitrogen pools in particular have been shown to be held in different ratios between unimproved and improved grasslands, with ammonium dominating unimproved pastures, while nitrate is prevalent in improved pastures [5].