Effects of the long-term addition of sucrose and of the presence of ectomycorrhizal roots on the functioning of microbal communities in soddy-podzolic soil

A field experiment showed that long-term addition of easily accessible carbon (sucrose) into soil leads to an abrupt reduction in the number of cellulose-degrading bacteria but to an increase in the functional diversity of the soil microbial community along with an increase in carbon dioxide emission, nitrogen fixation, and denitrification. The exclusion of ectomycorrhizal spruce roots did not affect the number of hydrolytic bacteria but stimulated nitrogen fixation and decreased the intensity of basal respiration and denitrification activity of the soil.