Table 1. Soil sample description, protist SSU rRNA sequence numbers (±s.d.) and relative abundances obtained from each site.
| Sample name | Grassland soil (Gs) | Forest soil (Fs) | Forest litter (Fl) | Peatland soil 'Knutsen' (PsK) | Peatland soil 'Solvatn' (PsS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of replicates | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| pH | 4.9 | 4.5–5.1 | NA | 7.3 | 7.6 |
| Moisture (% soil dry weight) | 33 | 43–64 | 18 | 1010 | 900 |
| Substrate type/horizon | Mineral soil/A horizon | Mineral soil/A horizon | Litter/organic (L/F) horizon | Organic peat/Top layer | Organic peat/Top layer |
| Vegetation | Grassland | Beech forest | Beech forest | Fen wet land, moss dominated | Fen wet land, moss dominated |
| Climatic zone | Temperate | Temperate | Temperate | Arctic | Arctic |
| Location | Rothamsted, UK | Vienna woods, Austria | Vienna woods, Austria | Svalbard, Norway | Svalbard, Norway |
| # of Protist SSU | 253±21 | 961±470 | 4862±2579 | 2722±773 | 6631±210 |
| rRNAs (%) | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| SAR | 163±15 | 662±287 | 3494±1735 | 2058±844 | 5265±187 |
| 64% | 69% | 72% | 76% | 79% | |
| Stramenopiles | 24±8 | 77±26 | 234±238 | 294±71 | 731±25 |
| 9.5% | 8.0% | 4.8% | 10.8% | 11.0% | |
| Alveolata | 24±1 | 96±34 | 870±542 | 1295±756 | 3797±144 |
| 9.5% | 10.0% | 17.9% | 47.6% | 57.3% | |
| Rhizaria | 115±7 | 489±236 | 2391±954 | 470±160 | 737±18 |
| 46% | 50.9% | 49.2% | 17.3% | 11.1% | |
| Amoebozoa | 65±4 | 250±87 | 1009±633 | 322±6 | 586±29 |
| 26% | 26% | 20.8% | 11.8% | 8.8% | |
| Excavata | 7±1 | 25±11 | 233±141 | 148±20 | 420±23 |
| 2.8% | 2.6% | 4.8% | 5.4% | 6.3% | |
| Archaeplastida | 12±6 | 11±7 | 47±19 | 144±93 | 222±10 |
| 4.7% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 5.3% | 3.3% | |
| Opisthokonta | 6±4 | 19±10 | 82±52 | 50±7 | 139±6 |
| 2.4% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 2.1% |
Abbreviations: NA, data not available; SAR, Stramenopiles, Alveolata and Rhizaria; SSU rRNA, small subunit ribosomal RNA. In italics: eukaryotic supergroups.