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The forest floor mineral soil mix had significantly greater soil microbial functional diversity than the peat mineral soil mix. This finding is consistent with previous studies and highlights the distinct differences in the two cover soils.
The presence of coarse woody debris had a direct effect on the microbial community structure in the forest floor mineral soil mix. It also increased the microbial biomass and the microbial functional diversity in both the forest floor mineral soil mix and the peat mineral soil mix.
The results suggest that the benefits of coarse woody debris are greater on sites with forest floor mineral soil mix than with peat mineral soil mix