Bacterial community structure and soil enzyme activities response to change of moisture content in northeastern China forest peat swamps

The better understanding of the relationship between soil physical and chemical properties and bacterial communities under different moisture contents has a potential contribution to improving the sustainability of forest peat swamp protection. In this study, we tested the 16sRNA genes of bacteria to study the physical and chemical characteristics of soil under three types of forest surface vegetation cover, with three different moisture contents (24.4 2.6%, 48.4 4.2%, 91.0 2.7%). The results show that under different moisture contents conditions, microbial community composition will change greatly. Proteobacteria (30.04%) and Acidobacteria (25.58%) are the dominant communities in forest peat swamps, and have little change in moisture contents , Chloroflexi abundance changes significantly in different moisture contents, the microbial community structure has a strong selectivity to water. As the moisture content of the forest peat swamp decreases, the soil microbial community structure will change, and soil enzyme activities (Invertase, Urease, Catalase) have different activities under different water contents, which impact on deposition rate of C in the soil and the carbon sequestration of organic matter in forest peat swamps.