BackgroundCultivating the wine-cap mushroom (Stropharia rugosoannulata) on forestland has become popular in China. However, the effects of wine-cap Stropharia cultivation on soil nutrients and bacterial communities are poorly understood.MethodsWe employed chemical analyses and high-throughput sequencing to determine the impact of cultivating the wine-cap Stropharia on soil nutrients and bacterial communities of forestland.ResultsCultivation regimes of Stropharia on forestland resulted in consistent increases of soil organic matter (OM) and available phosphorus (AP) content. Among the cultivation regimes, the greatest soil nutrient contents were found in the one-year interval cultivation regime, and the lowest total N and alkaline hydrolysable N contents were observed in the current-year cultivation regime. No significant differences were observed in alpha diversity among all cultivation regimes. Specific soil bacterial groups, such as Acidobacteria, increased in abundance after cultivation of Stropharia rugosoannulata.DiscussionGiven the numerous positive effects exerted by OM on soil physical and chemical properties, and the consistent increase in OM content for all cultivation regimes, we suggest that mushroom cultivation is beneficial to forest soil nutrient conditions through increasing OM content. Based on the fact that the one-year interval cultivation regime had the highest soil nutrient content as compared with other cultivation regimes, we recommend this regime for application in farming practice. The spent mushroom compost appeared to be more influential than the hyphae of S. rugosoannulata on the soil nutrients and bacterial communities; however, this requires further study. This research provides insight into understanding the effects of mushroom cultivation on the forest soil ecosystem and suggests a relevant cultivation strategy that reduces its negative impacts.