Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio
Crop rotations in the Midwest U.S. have become less diversified over the last twenty years while at the same time cover crop acreage has increased. The impact of these changes on soil health and soil microbial communities is not entirely understood. In rotational plots at two sites in Ohio, we inves...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Soil Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoil.2025.1535734/full |
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| author | Timothy S. Frey Denis A. Shah Laura E. Lindsey Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Horacio D. Lopez-Nicora M. Soledad Benitez Ponce |
| author_facet | Timothy S. Frey Denis A. Shah Laura E. Lindsey Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Horacio D. Lopez-Nicora M. Soledad Benitez Ponce |
| author_sort | Timothy S. Frey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Crop rotations in the Midwest U.S. have become less diversified over the last twenty years while at the same time cover crop acreage has increased. The impact of these changes on soil health and soil microbial communities is not entirely understood. In rotational plots at two sites in Ohio, we investigated the impact of a corn-soy-wheat crop rotation and a rye cover crop on soil carbon, nitrogen, soil organic matter, and their relationships with soybean yield. Rhizosphere fungal, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal, and bacterial communities were also assessed, as well as soil health and yield parameters. Microbial communities were measured using long and short-read amplicon sequencing on the PacBio and Illumina platforms. Small changes in soil health parameters were observed, including increased soil protein in the cover crop treatment at one of the sites. We also observed increasing yields in the diversified rotations and cover crops at one site. Soil bacterial and fungal communities showed differences driven by site, and AM fungi showed differences by rotation in one site-year combination. Network analysis revealed several fungal network modules correlated with increases in POXC and bacterial network modules correlated with soil protein and respiration. This research uniquely addresses the interactions between cover crops and diversified rotations and their impact on soil health in no-till production in Ohio. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6f2b9d75dd6d4998be38044852dd89ce |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-8619 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Soil Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-6f2b9d75dd6d4998be38044852dd89ce2025-08-20T03:15:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Soil Science2673-86192025-03-01510.3389/fsoil.2025.15357341535734Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in OhioTimothy S. Frey0Denis A. Shah1Laura E. Lindsey2Christine Sprunger3Christine Sprunger4Christine Sprunger5Horacio D. Lopez-Nicora6M. Soledad Benitez Ponce7Department of Plant Pathology, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United StatesDepartment of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, United StatesDepartment of Horticulture and Crop Science, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United StatesDepartment of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesW.K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, United StatesPlant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United StatesDepartment of Plant Pathology, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United StatesDepartment of Plant Pathology, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United StatesCrop rotations in the Midwest U.S. have become less diversified over the last twenty years while at the same time cover crop acreage has increased. The impact of these changes on soil health and soil microbial communities is not entirely understood. In rotational plots at two sites in Ohio, we investigated the impact of a corn-soy-wheat crop rotation and a rye cover crop on soil carbon, nitrogen, soil organic matter, and their relationships with soybean yield. Rhizosphere fungal, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal, and bacterial communities were also assessed, as well as soil health and yield parameters. Microbial communities were measured using long and short-read amplicon sequencing on the PacBio and Illumina platforms. Small changes in soil health parameters were observed, including increased soil protein in the cover crop treatment at one of the sites. We also observed increasing yields in the diversified rotations and cover crops at one site. Soil bacterial and fungal communities showed differences driven by site, and AM fungi showed differences by rotation in one site-year combination. Network analysis revealed several fungal network modules correlated with increases in POXC and bacterial network modules correlated with soil protein and respiration. This research uniquely addresses the interactions between cover crops and diversified rotations and their impact on soil health in no-till production in Ohio.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoil.2025.1535734/fullfungibacteriaryesoybeancommunitiesmycorrhizae |
| spellingShingle | Timothy S. Frey Denis A. Shah Laura E. Lindsey Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Christine Sprunger Horacio D. Lopez-Nicora M. Soledad Benitez Ponce Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio Frontiers in Soil Science fungi bacteria rye soybean communities mycorrhizae |
| title | Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio |
| title_full | Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio |
| title_fullStr | Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio |
| title_short | Crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health, microbial communities, and soybean yield in Ohio |
| title_sort | crop rotation and a rye cover crop have minor impacts on soil health microbial communities and soybean yield in ohio |
| topic | fungi bacteria rye soybean communities mycorrhizae |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoil.2025.1535734/full |
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