Dear Dr. Chiu,

Thank you for providing responses to the Reviewer's comments. I have read your responses to the comments of both reviewers and made additional technical suggestions for revision below. I agree with the reviewers that you are missing a good linkage back to bamboo in the discussion. Currently, the discussion is highly microbial/soil focused and it would be nice to discuss the implications for plant interactions. Also, link back to management of the former plantations--how will changes in soil respiration/activity affect these legacy sites? or further management of them?

I encourage you to submit a revised version of your manuscript that takes into account the modifications mentioned in your answers to the reviewers and my comments.
Best,
Dr. Denise Akob

pg. 4, l. 9: correct spelling to oligotrophs
pg. 4, l. 6-9: language is a bit awkward and pluralization is missing.
pg. 6: please release the sequences prior to resubmission.
pg. 8, l. 4: define day/time notation, e.g., "d28", here to make it clear to the reader for the rest of the paper.
pg. 8, l. 17: OTU's formed is not the correct word choice. Please change to an based on an OTU cutoff of ≤ 0.03
pg. 13, l. 15: correct to "life strategies as an oligotroph or copiotroph."
Fig. 3: optional--change to a 3 part single column graph
Fig. 4: please check to see if this is readable for those that are color-blind. As is, the slight variations in darkness of the reds could be difficult to distinguish.

Dear Dr. Chiu,

Thank you for revising the paper per my and the reviewer's comments. It is a pleasure to inform you that I have accepted your manuscript for publication in Biogeosciences - congratulations!

Best,
Denise