Simpson index both indicted that the manure-based compost
resulted in a relatively lower bacterial diversity than those with the
same amount of inorganic nitrogen.
Microbial diversity is one of the most important microbial
parameters in soil (Zhong and Cai, 2007). Numerous studies have
frequently reported that microbial diversity is always affected by
fertilization regimes (Esperschütz et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2012).
Higher size and diversity of microbial communities were found in
organically fertilized systems than in inorganically fertilized ones,
which is inconsistent with our results. However, these previous
studies were conducted with relatively lower application rates of
compost or chemical fertilizer. The greater amount of organic
matter carried by the compost may largely cause variations in the
soil microbial structure and promote intensive reproduction of
certain microbial groups, resulting in a decrease in the bacterial