This paper presents data on temporal and spatial variability and ecological interactions of bacteria in a Scottish woodland over a winter – spring period (January – April). The study sites covered an area of 1 ha and a range of woodland habitats formed by beech (Fagus silvatica), birch (Betula pendula × pubescens) and oak (Quercus petraea), as well as (one site) a clearance site covered with grass (predominantly Holcus lanatus). Subsamples of fresh litter were fragmented for 60 s in a domestic food processor and were subsequently used to estimate the abundance of bacteria by counting under a fluorescent microscope. The preparation of bacterial slides involved staining with DTAF following extraction in phosphate buffer. The data on protozoa, fungi and microinvertebrates were available from parallel research and were obtained using standard methods. Numbers of bacteria appeared to be lower in sites dominated by beech. The highest average bacterial abundance (9.07 × 108 cells g⁻¹ dry litter) was registered in January, and then gradually declined till March, when the lowest (7.37 × 10⁸ cells g⁻¹ dry litter) value was found, before rising again in April. The only significant difference revealed by one-way ANOVA was between January and March results. Both date and site effects were found to be significant by two-way ANOVA, but the date × site interaction was not significant. A number of significant relationships were registered by stepwise regression analysis, ANCOVA, and correlation analysis. In stepwise regression analysis, the most important predictor for bacterial density was litter moisture content (all months but March). Further significant relationships were revealed with the abundance of fungi, nematodes, and microarthropods, and forest litter fractions of moss, needles, beech seeds and birch leaves. ANCOVA confirmed the importance of interactions with litter composition and moisture content, and the abundance of fungi and microarthropods, and revealed a relationship with the abundance of ciliates. Correlation analysis for separate months revealed various relationships with forest litter composition (including positive – with forest litter fractions of oak leaves, grass, roots, birch leaves, and negative ones – with forest litter fractions of ferns and seeds), and the abundance of other microbiota, including positive with Folsomia candida (Insecta, Apterygota, Collembola), fungi, plant and microbial feeding nematodes, tardigrades and enchytraeids, positive and negative with ciliates, and negative with predatory nematodes. Most of these relationships, plus a further correlation with the abundance of amoebae, were also revealed for the combined dataset. It should be noted that some of these interactions (e.g. with % grass, % roots, the density of Folsomia candida) were only revealed by correlation analysis, and may therefore be judged as less important than relationships registered by all statistical methods applied. The results of this study highlighted the complexity of multivariate interactions of bacteria in forest litter.
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