In the current context of climate change, the study of microbial communities along altitudinal gradients is especially useful. Only few studies considered altitude and season at the same time. We characterized four forest sites located in the Italian Alps, along an altitude gradient (545-2000 m a.s.l.), to evaluate the effect of altitude in spring and autumn on soil microbial properties. Each site in each season was characterized with regard to soil temperature, physicochemical properties, microbial activities (respiration, enzymes), community level physiological profiles (CLPP), microbial abundance and community structure (PLFA). Increased levels of soil organic matter (SOM) and nutrients were found at higher altitudes and in autumn, resulting in a significant increase of (soil dry-mass related) microbial activities and abundance at higher altitudes. Significant site- and season-specific effects were found for enzyme production. The significant interaction of the factors site and incubation temperature for soil microbial activities indicated differences in microbial communities and their responses to temperature among sites. CLPP revealed site-specific effects. Microbial community structure was influenced by altitudinal, seasonal and/or site-specific effects. Correlations demonstrated that altitude, and not season, was the main factor determining the changes in abiotic and biotic characteristics at the sites investigated.

Division Forestry Autonomous Province of Bozen Bolzano Brennerstrasse 6 1 39100 Bozen Bolzano Italy

Institute of Microbiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v v i Vídeňská 1083 CZ 142 20 Prague 4 Czech Republic Institute for Environmental Studies Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Benatska 2 CZ 128 01 Prague 2 Czech Republic

Institute of Microbiology University of Innsbruck Technikerstrasse 25 A 6020 Innsbruck Austria

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