Carbon-fixing bacteria are a potential and important factor which can improve soil fertility. However, the impact and function of rotation and fertilization on carbon-fixing bacterial communities in coal-mining subsidence areas remains poorly understood. To narrow this knowledge gap, the composition and abundance of carbon-fixing bacteria were investigated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), high-throughput sequencing and quantitative PCR of the cbbM gene [that encodes ribulose-1,5-biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO)] in soil.