Soil resources influence spatial patterns of denitrifying communities at scales compatible with land management

Geostatistical modeling to map spatial patterns were used to explore the distribution of the community structure, size, and activity of one functional group in N cycling, the denitrifiers, in relation to 23 soil parameters over a 44-ha farm divided into one organic and one integrated crop production system. The different community patterns along with the spatial distribution of the nirS/nirK abundance ratio suggested habitat selection on the nirS- and nirK-type denitrifiers and constituted a first step in identifying positions for denitrifiers at scales relevant to land management.