Nutrient source, management system and the age of the plantation affect soil biodiversity and chemical properties in raspberry production

Micro-Environmental Variation in Soil Microbial Biodiversity in Forest Frontier Ecosystems—Implications for Sustainability Assessments

“…Heterogeneity may also be associated with fertilization and tillage patterns, influencing the autocorrelation results and explaining the correlation we observed with chemical soil characteristics (pH, electric conductivity, total C, total N, and C/N ratio). Differences in soil microbial biodiversity and chemical characteristics between soil samples from row and inter-row have been previously reported in raspberry production in this region [35]. In grasslands, spatial micro-variability patterns may result from animal depositions, differential trampling or selective grazing of most palatable species [92].…”

“…Horticultural soil exhibited high variability, and this variation was heterogeneously distributed and autocorrelated. The differences observed between forest and horticultural land could be associated with land fragmentation due to horticultural practices and soil management effects, such as tillage, planting rows separated by bare soil (inter-rows), fertilization, irrigation in cultivated rows, high crop rotation, low density, and the penetration of plant roots [35]. Regarding designing a sampling scheme for assessing this horticultural soil, results indicate that soil microbial biodiversity characterization should consider the regular collection of soil samples separated at least by 12 m (according to autocorrelation results) and covering the first 20 cm of soil depth (cf.…”

“…In forest frontier ecosystems, forest soils are often used as a benchmark to compare soil health indicators measured in other land-use types [33][34][35][36][37]. This is because forest soils are thought to harbour the original, native soil microbial diversity.…”