The Effect of Vaccinium vitis-idaea on Properties of Mountain-Meadow Soil under Alpine Lichen Heath

—The study of the effect of mycorrhiza symbiosis on the transformation of carbon and nitrogen compounds in soils is important in view of the necessity to predict variations in the cycles of nutrients under changing environmental conditions. It has been shown that the ericaceous dwarf shrub Vaccinium vitis-idaea characterized by ericoid mycorrhiza, which releases oxidative and hydrolytic enzymes into the soil, has an effect on the properties of mountain-meadow soil in the alpine phytocenosis. In the presence of V. vitis-idaea , the soil is characterized by increased acidity; higher contents of labile organic matter carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen, and available phosphorus; and higher microbial activity.