Dataset Information

Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China.

ABSTRACT: Agricultural management methods, such as cultivation or fallowing, have led to significant changes in soil fertility and hence, crop yield. Such changes may have stemmed from changes in soil microbial communities and associated biogeochemical processes. This phenomenon is particularly true in organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China. In this study, we examined three existing soil management regimes as part of a 10-year field experiment and evaluated their effects on fungal and bacterial community structures by performing high-throughput 454 pyrosequencing. These management regimes were (i) fertilized winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (FW), (ii) continuous natural fallow with weeds but without crop grown (NF), and (iii) continuous bare fallow without weeds or crop grown (BF). After 10 years, soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and available potassium (K) concentrations were highest in NF. Soil N behaved differently, with BF obtaining the highest nitrate nitrogen (N). Meanwhile, slight differences in total N (TN) were observed among FW, NF, and BF. Available phosphorus (P) was highest and available K was lowest in FW. Microbial communities were dominated by Ascomycota (59.1% of fungal sequences), and Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria (75.7% of bacterial sequences) in FW, NF and BF at the phylum level. Soil management regimes did not affect the fungal and bacterial richness and diversity but significantly modified their community compositions. Compared with FW, the abundances of Ascomycota (fungi phylum) and Alternaria, Gibberella, and Emericella (fungi genus) were increased by NF, whereas the values of Chaetomium, Humicola, and Cryptococcus (fungi genus) were decreased by BF. The abundances of Verrucomicrobia (bacteria phylum), and Steroidobacter (bacteria genus) were increased by NF, and Bacteroides (bacteria genus) was increased by BF. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that SOC, available P, and TN might be the key factors in community formation. Therefore, the decadal absence of plants (BF) affected soil fertility by increased available K and nitrate N, whileas natural fallow (NF) affected soil fertility by increased SOC, available K, and MBC, and they all changed fungal and bacterial community compositions.

SUBMITTER: Tian H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5589179 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China.

Tian Hui H Wang Hui H Hui Xiaoli X Wang Zhaohui Z Drijber Rhae A RA Liu Jinshan J

PloS one 20170907 9

Agricultural management methods, such as cultivation or fallowing, have led to significant changes in soil fertility and hence, crop yield. Such changes may have stemmed from changes in soil microbial communities and associated biogeochemical processes. This phenomenon is particularly true in organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China. In this study, we examined three existing soil management regimes as part of a 10-year field experiment and evaluated their effects on fungal and bacterial c ...[more]

PMID: 28880897

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Project description:In South China, it is common practice for the late rice (Oryza sativa) that is planted during the summer in the paddy fields after harvest to be used for fallowing or to plant winter forage crops. The land is ploughed before early rice planting. Both forage wheat (Triticum aestivum) and Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) have relatively high nutritional value, and planting them in winter fallow paddy fields could potentially address food shortages and provide quality forage for livestock. In this study, we examined the effects of no-tillage sowing 5 days before rice harvest (NB5), no-tillage sowing 1 day after rice harvest (NA1), and conventional tillage sowing (CK) 1 day after rice harvest on forage wheat and Italian ryegrass soil properties, dry matter (DM), and crude protein (CP) yields. Soil and plant samples were collected after three months of crop growth. The results showed that the NB5 and NA1 soil bulk density (0-20 cm soil layer) tended to increase when compared to that of the CK field. The NA1 treatment increased the total soil nitrogen and organic matter content. The enzyme activities and total soil porosity in the no-tillage forage wheat and Italian ryegrass fields tended to decrease, while the no-tillage water content and soil capillary porosity tended to increase when compared to that of the CK field. Overall, planting year significantly influenced soil chemical properties (except for total nitrogen) and enzyme activity, but crop type had no significant effect on soil physical-chemical properties (except for capillary moisture capacity) and enzyme activity. Sowing methods had no significant effects on the crop DM and CP yields. The DM yield was affected by the interaction between planting year and sowing methods, or between sowing methods and crop type. No-tillage also increased the number of species and aboveground weed biomass. We concluded that the best sowing method for forage wheat and Italian ryegrass in winter fallow paddy fields was no-tillage sowing following rice harvest.

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Dataset Information

Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China.

Publications

Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China.

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