Coastal sand dunes are very dynamic ecosystems where various plants are heterogeneously distributed following with distance from the shoreline (zonation). However, due to the construction of coastal forests, such a complex zonation area has been declined. The Tottori Sand Dune is one of the few places where unique vegetation in coastal dunes remains.
In this study, our objective was to determine to what extent differences in vegetation affect soil microbial diversity in the Tottori Sand Dunes, a coastal dune in Japan.
Soil samples were collected from four adjacent vegetation types: Vitex rotundifolia (Plot 1), mixed area of Vitex rotundifolia and Artemisia capillaris (Plot 3), and Pinus thunbergii trees (Plot 4), and bare soil surrounded by Vitex rotundifolia (Plot 2), with three depths (0-10, 10-20, 20-30 cm). The distance from Plot 1 to Plot 4 was within 100 m and along with the shoreline.
Our result revealed that soil organic carbon content and microbial abundance increased with an increase in the distance from the coastline, but not related to soil microbial diversity indices. Moreover, indicator species analysis showed that soil microbial community composition differed in each vegetation, suggesting the above and below ground interactions.