Effects of straw mulching practices on soil nematode communities under walnut plantation

Abstract

Agricultural management techniques such as mulching with crop straw can impact soil properties and may in turn change the structure and function of the soil food web. We investigated different straw mulching types and straw mulching coverage levels on soil nematodes community structure in walnut orchards. We set up a randomized experimental design with three straw mulch types, and three straw mulch distance treatments in a walnut plantation. The results indicated that the number of soil nematodes after straw mulching was lower than that found in the control (CK). However, the metabolic and structure footprints of the omnivore-predator nematodes showed higher values as compared to CK. The abundances of plant parasite and omnivore-predator nematodes were negatively correlated with ammonium nitrogen (NH4+–N) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), whereas soil moisture content (SM) had a negative correlation with the abundance of total nematodes. High structure index (SI), maturity index (MI) and low enrichment index (EI) values revealed a structured soil food web, medium soil enrichment, and fungal decomposition channel under the mix straw mulching treatments. Soil nematodes should be used as an indicator of soil functional changes resulting from straw mulching.

Straw mulch improves soil carbon and nitrogen cycle by mediating microbial community structure and function in the maize field

“…Similarly, recent research indicated that straw mulch significantly altered the organization of the soil microbial population in the wheat and rape field (Zhou et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2022 ). We further observed that the upregulated and downregulated population numbers of the microbial community were raised by increasing straw mulch amounts in both the maize rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere, in line with previous research that the change in microbial community structure induced by straw mulch amounts may be a foodweb competition mechanism because straw provides multiple nutrition matters such as the input of carbon and nitrogen (Kou et al, 2020 ; Song et al, 2020 ). Generally, fungi primarily decompose recalcitrant soil organic matter, while bacteria are more vital in the mineralization of labile fractions (Lindahl and Tunlid, 2015 ; Fu et al, 2019 ).…”

Temporal changes in soil nematode communities in rubber plantations in Ivory Coast in response to logging residue management

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Macrotyloma axillare ‘Java’ and Crotalaria spp. combined with biocontrol agents for the management of Meloidogyne javanica in soybean

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