Shifts in Vegetation-Associated Microbial Community in the Reclamation of Coal Mining Subsidence Land

The recovery of soil microbial community is important for reclamation success in coal mining subsidence land. This study aims to investigate the relationship between soil microbes and vegetation species in a reclamation area in Panji coal mining subsidence land, and to determine a suitable planting model to improve the soil physiochemical properties. In this experiment,Sesamum indicumandGlycine max, forge cropsMedicago sativaandSorghum sudanense, andZea mayswere planted, and amplicon high-throughput sequencing was applied to determine the soil microbial community structure. The results showed that significant growth-related dynamic changes in microbial community structure were mainly associated with the phylum ofProteobacteria,Actinobacteria, andFirmicutes, which accounted for 29.69%, 13.93%, and 12.51% in the total bacterial sequences, respectively. In addition, the activities of soil sucrase and urease showed a significant increasing with the decrease of pH, from 8.05 to 7.74. Correspondingly, plants had no significant effect on the fungal community composition, which comprised 52.55% of Ascomycota and 25.45% Basidiomycota, respectively. More important, soil pH was a crucial factor influencing the bacterial community structure. The study indicates that vegetation can improve the soil nutrient, enzyme activities, and microorganisms in the surface soil of the reclamation area and remit subsidence area soil alkalinization, which is of great significance for the ecosystem restoration in coal mining subsidence land.