Comparison of Soil Microbial Features in Mobile Dunes from Horqin and Otindag Sands in Northern China

Typical mobile dunes in Horqin Sands and Otindag Sands were chosen to investigate the soil microbial population and biomass carbon in the 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm soil layers.Results showed that soil microbial population and biomass carbon in Otindag Sands were greater than those in Horqin Sands.The difference of fungal population between Horqin and Otindag was significant,while the differences of bacterial and actinomycetic population were both statistically insignificant.Their biomass carbon also showed significant differences.Microbial population and biomass carbon at the two layers showed that the 10-20 cm was greater than the 0-10 cm layer in both the Otindag and Horqin Sands.The difference of microbial population between the two layers was not significant,while microbial biomass carbon was significantly different.The differences of soil properties resulted in the differences of microbial population and biomass carbon between the Horqin and Otindag Sands.Correlations were remarkably positive among bacterial and fungal population,soil organic carbon content and soil total nitrogen content,but negative among bacterial and fungal population,