EN
Abundance of microorganisms and their communities’ structure in disturbed peatlands characterized by different chemical properties and plants cover were studied. Naturally regenerating four disturbed peatlands from different regions of Lithuania were selected for the investigation. The aim of the study was to investigate invasive moss Campylopus introflexus cover effect on microbial communities. The peat under Eriophorum angustifolium, Polytrichum strictum and bare peat were sampled for the comparison. The abundance of microorganisms in sampling plots depends on the content of total nitrogen, potassium, soil organic matter and pH as well as on growing plants. In the peat under C. introflexus, the number of ammonifying and mineral N assimilating bacteria was significantly lower in comparison with other plants or bare peat. The results on fungi abundance in peat under C. introflexus allow to predict that the distribution of moss doesn‘t affect negatively the development of fungi. A total of 236 fungal strains belonging to 21 genera were isolated from the studied peat samples. Species from the Penicillium, Trichoderma and Mortierella genera dominated among them. The structure of microbial communities varied in separate peatlands and under various plants. However, all examined microorganism communities seemed to be able adapted to organic matter degradation.