Investigating responses of soil bacterial community composition to hardwood biochar amendment using high-throughput PCR sequencing

The objectives of this field study were to evaluate the influence of sugar maple hardwood biochar on soil bacterial communities using next-generation sequencing via the Illumina MiSeq platform. Bacterial communities were sampled in soils with application rates of biochar including a control of 0%, 2% and a high rate of 4% by weight three years after incorporation of biochar. Bacterial 16S rRNA (V4 region) was sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform and identified using the SILVA database. Overall, the changes in the microbial communities with the addition of biochar were modest, potentially indicating an overall temporal-stability of diverse microbial communities in soil after biochar amendment. While individual taxa were significantly affected, including N-Cycling bacteria, there was no overall significant difference in total abundance, observed OTUs or alpha diversity indices.