Plant species identity and richness influence microbial respiration of soil microorganisms on various functional groups in northeastern Patagonia, Argentina

Microbiological activity is a general term which includes all metabolic reactions and interactions of the soil microflora and macrofauna.1 Soil microorganisms contribute to soil fertility and aggregate formation in degraded soils.2 However, it is only during the last decades that ecologists have beginning to explore the underground communities and their functional significance for the plant communities and ecosistemic processes.3,4 Exudates from plant roots and decomposition of the underground litter affect the associated roots and the communities of the underground decomposers, which in time regulate soil nutrient availability and plant growth.5