The effects of soil depth on the structure of microbial communities in agricultural soils in Iowa, USA

The determination of how microbial community structure changes within the soil profile, will be beneficial to understanding the long-term health of agricultural soil ecosystems and will provide a first step towards elucidating how deep soil microbial communities contribute to carbon sequestration. This study aimed to investigate the differences in the microbial community abundance, composition and diversity throughout from the surface layers down to deep soils in corn and soybean fields in Iowa, USA. We used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of soil samples to characterize the change in microbial community structure. Our results revealed decreased richness and diversity in bacterial community structure with increasing soil depth. We also observed distinct distribution patterns of bacterial community composition along soil profiles. Soil and root data at different depths enabled us to demonstrate that the soil organic matter, soil bulk density and plant water availability were all significant factors in explaining the variation in soil microbial community composition. Our findings provide valuable insights in the changes in microbial community structure to depths of 180 cm in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This knowledge will be important for future management and productivity of agroecosystems in the face of increasing demand for food and climate change.