Soil microbial community composition in two distinct preserved habitats
Provide a description (a paragraph) of the study goals and relevance: This study aims at exploring the taxonomic composition, richness, and diversity of microbial and metazoan communities in two adjacent ecosystems, the preserved native forest (NF) and rupestrian grassland (RG), within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, specifically at PROMATA, a protected area of permanent preservation privately maintained by PUCRS. The research utilizes raw data from high-throughput sequencing of 18S (eukaryotic), 16S (bacterial), and archaeal gene regions to analyze the microbial and metazoan communities in both ecosystems. By examining these communities, the study seeks to uncover ecological patterns, variations in community structure, and the drivers of biodiversity across these closely situated habitats, thereby providing insights into the conservation and ecological significance of the PROMATA area.