Diversity of Soil Microbial Communities Formed by Different Light Penetrations in Forests

The present study investigated variations in soil microbial communities and the chemical properties of forest soils by differing amounts of penetrating sunlight. The soil temperature was significantly higher in higher light-penetrated soils. Higher light-penetrated soils (LP70) showed significantly more fungal communities than the lower light-penetrated soils (LP40 and LP50) (p < 0.05). The $NH_4$-N concentration in LP70 was significantly lower than those of LP40 and LP50, whereas the other chemical properties showed no significant difference among the soils. The cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ ratio was significantly lower in LP70 than in LP 40 and LP50 showing the negative correlation of light level with microbial stresses (p < 0.05). The soil microbial communities and the chemical properties that showed positive eigenvector coefficients for PC1 were the fungi to bacteria, fungi, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and Gram-positive bacteria, whereas negative eigenvector coefficients were found for $NH_4$-N, actinomycetes, Gram-negative bacteria, and bacteria. Consequently, the amount of penetrating light was responsible for microbial compositions in the forest soils in correlation with the concentration of $NH_4$-N and soil temperature.