Variability of Microbiota under Diverse Conditions of Soil Moistening

Abstract

According to data on the abundance of taxonomic, physiological, and ecotrophic microbial groups, analysis of the seasonal changes in their composition under conditions of artificial (irrigation) and natural (wet land formation) soil moistening was carried out. It was revealed with statistical reliability that the greatest response to changes caused by different soil moistening modes was observed in the numbers of aerobic cellulose-degrading microorganisms, denitrifiers, and fungi. An increase in erosion resistance of steppe soils during irrigation is explained by the combined effect of physicochemical and biological processes, and by higher numbers of algae, fungi, aerobic cellulose-degrading microorganisms, and oligonitrophiles, in particular.