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.

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 organi...

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Main Authors: Hui Tian, Hui Wang, Xiaoli Hui, Zhaohui Wang, Rhae A Drijber, Jinshan Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0184223&type=printable
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author Hui Tian
Hui Wang
Xiaoli Hui
Zhaohui Wang
Rhae A Drijber
Jinshan Liu
author_facet Hui Tian
Hui Wang
Xiaoli Hui
Zhaohui Wang
Rhae A Drijber
Jinshan Liu
author_sort Hui Tian
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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spelling doaj-art-316eae733bc742db9a84a5041d131bc82025-08-20T02:45:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01129e018422310.1371/journal.pone.0184223Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China.Hui TianHui WangXiaoli HuiZhaohui WangRhae A DrijberJinshan LiuAgricultural 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.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0184223&type=printable
spellingShingle Hui Tian
Hui Wang
Xiaoli Hui
Zhaohui Wang
Rhae A Drijber
Jinshan Liu
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.
PLoS ONE
title 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.
title_full 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.
title_fullStr 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.
title_full_unstemmed 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.
title_short 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.
title_sort 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
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0184223&type=printable
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