Vegetation patterns influence on soil microbial biomass and functional diversity in a hilly area of the Loess Plateau, China

Purpose Shifts of microbial biomass and functional diversity under different vegetation patterns can impact the soil processes, and the specific knowledge about this can be used to develop sound vegetation restoration strategies. This study was devoted to examine the effects of different vegetation patterns on microbial biomass and functional diversity and explore the relationship between soil erosion and soil microbial properties under typical erosion conditions of the semiarid hilly area of the Loess Plateau, China.