The Atacama Desert, one of the oldest and driest non-polar deserts on Earth, displays extreme conditions for microbial life due to water scarcity and low soil organic carbon availability. We hypothesized that well-adapted desert plants support microbial life and provide different habitats for bacteria. We investigated the habitat function of Tillandsia landbeckii lomas. T. landbeckii has developed strategies to survive even under the most arid conditions and is found in isolated populations in the Atacama Desert. We collected plant and soil samples from different T. landbeckii lomas and analyzed the bacterial communities that were associated with the plants and present in the nearby soil based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Our data revealed a clear compartment-specific colonization of T. landbeckii plants, i.e. the above-ground part (phyllosphere) hosted a different community than the below-ground part (laimosphere). Further, plant-associated microbial communities were distinct from those of barren surface soil. Besides well-known phyllosphere colonizers (Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria or Actinobacteria), we detected rather unusual taxa in the phyllosphere, especially "Candidatus Uzinura", an insect symbiont. The microbial community of the laimosphere was comprised of soil and rhizosphere dwelling bacteria as well as phyllosphere colonizers (Gammaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria or Bacteroidia). In case the plants are grown on dunes with relic T. landbeckii, the habitat function is further extended into the deeper soil. We observed an increased bacterial abundance, richness and diversity, especially in dune layers with elevated amounts of plant material. Taken together our findings indicate that T. landbeckii lomas provide different habitats for microorganisms. Adaptation strategies of these microorganisms in the different habitats need to be studied in more detail in the future.