Changes in microbial community structure and function within particle size fractions of a paddy soil under different long-term fertilization treatments from the Tai Lake region, China

Greenhouse gas (GHG) production and emission from paddy soils impacts global climate change. Soil particle size fractions (PSFs) of different sizes act as soil microhabitats for different kinds of microbial biota with varying conditions of redox reactions and soil organic matter (SOC) substrates. It is crucial to understand the distribution of soil microbial community structure within PSFs and linkage to the GHG production from paddy soils of China. The change of bacterial and methangenic archaeal community and activity relating to CH 4 and CO 2 production with PSFs under different fertilizer applications was studied in this paper. The fertilization trial was initiated in a paddy soil from the Tai Lake region, Jiangsu, China with four treatments of non-fertilized (NF), fertilized with inorganic fertilizers only (CF), inorganic with pig manure (CFM) and inorganic with straw return (CFS), respectively since 1987, and the PSFs (