Protecting the unseen majority: Land cover and environmental factors linked with soil bacterial communities and functions in New Zealand

In this study, we tested for the impacts of land-cover type (native forest, planted forest with exotic conifers, and pastoral agriculture) on soil bacterial communities and their functional potential, using environmental microarrays (PhyloChip and GeoChip, respectively). This evaluation was conducted across four environmentally different locations (Hokitika, Banks Peninsula, Craigieburn, and Eyrewell). The environment from which samples were collected was the largest and most significant factor associated with variation in bacterial community assemblage and function. As such, novel pockets of bacterial biodiversity, with discrete ecosystem function, may be present in New Zealand.