The researchers studied the roots of 13 plants in a tropical forest to see how they affect the microbes in the soil around them. They found that the type of soil and nutrients in it had a bigger impact on the microbes than the roots of the plants themselves. The soil's pH and available phosphorus were the most important factors influencing the diversity of bacteria and fungi in the soil. The roots' traits like phosphorus content and length were only linked to the diversity of bacteria, not fungi. This shows that the environment plays a bigger role in shaping the microbial communities in the soil than the plants' roots.