Soil Microbial Indicators within Rotations and Tillage Systems

Behnke, Gevan D.; Kim, Nakian; Zabaloy, María Celina; Riggins, Chance W.; Rodriguez-Zas, Sandra L.; Villamil, María B.

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9061244

Cited by 25 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 114 publications

(151 reference statements)

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“…Continuously cropped corn had distinct microbial taxa, while annually rotated communities were similar in both crop phases. These findings agree with those of Chamberlain et al (53) in southern Wisconsin, Ashworth et al (54) in Tennessee, and Behnke et al (26) in Illinois, who studied the long-term impacts of rotating corn and soybean compared to their monocultures on bulk soil microbial communities. The general lack of differences between the corn and soybean phases of the corn-soybean rotation supports a legacy rotational effect rather than an immediate yearly impact of each crop of the rotation on the structure of microbial communities, as observed in other studies (26,53).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…As it was observed for the crop rotation, alternating corn and soybean phases seemed to ameliorate the response of the soil microbiota to N fertilization detected in the continuous corn system. This ameliorated response could be further supported by similar levels of SOM and Pa measured across monocropped and rotated corn crops despite obvious differences in amount and quality of residue returned, consistent with previous studies in soils of the region (26,53,55). Across rotations, however, N fertilization had a significant impact on increasing NO − 3 in the soil while reducing pH and available P. The latter is attributed to the enhanced P uptake by crops in rotation, that yielded 10% more grain on average than monocropping (56), as well as to the potential damage to microbial acid phosphatase activities with N-fertilization (57).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…The data sets of genera with their ASV reads for archaea, bacteria and fungi were input into the JMP R predictor screening platform to provide an initial identification of the microbes responsive to treatment effects using a bootstrap forest partitioning method (10,26,46). This led to the selection of 6 archaea, 39 bacteria, and 45 fungi genera (Supplementary Table 5) each contributing at least one percent to the variability of the model algorithms for each set.…”

Section: Statistical Analysis and Visualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, biological N fixation is reduced as the selective pressure for this function is relieved due to an abundance of easily accessible N in the system. Lower pH under continuous corn management has been reported to favor both the abundance and diversity of fungi (26). Another meta-analyses by Carey et al (27) reported that additions of N increased both AOB and AOB abundances, with AOB showing increases an order of magnitude larger than AOA, correlated to increases in nitrification potential from agroecosystems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbial Signatures in Fertile Soils Under Long-Term N Management

et al. 2021

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Long-term reliance on inorganic N to maintain and increase crop yields in overly simplified cropping systems in the U.S. Midwest region has led to soil acidification, potentially damaging biological N2 fixation and accelerating potential nitrification activities. Building on this published work, rRNA gene-based analysis via Illumina technology with QIIME 2.0 processing was used to characterize the changes in microbial communities associated with such responses. Amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) for each archaeal, bacterial, and fungal taxa were classified using the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP). Our goal was to identify bioindicators from microbes responsive to crop rotation and N fertilization rates following 34–35 years since the initiation of experiments. Research plots were established in 1981 with treatments of rotation [continuous corn (Zea mays L.) (CCC) and both the corn (Cs) and soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) (Sc) phases of a corn-soybean rotation], and of N fertilization rates (0, 202, and 269 kg N/ha) arranged as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications. We identified a set of three archaea, and six fungal genera responding mainly to rotation; a set of three bacteria genera whose abundances were linked to N rates; and a set with the highest number of indicator genera from both bacteria (22) and fungal (12) taxa responded to N fertilizer additions only within the CCC system. Indicators associated with the N cycle were identified from each archaeal, bacterial, and fungal taxon, with a dominance of denitrifier- over nitrifier- groups. These were represented by a nitrifier archaeon Nitrososphaera, and Woesearchaeota AR15, an anaerobic denitrifier. These archaea were identified as part of the signature for CCC environments, decreasing in abundance with rotated management. The opposite response was recorded for the fungus Plectosphaerella, a potential N2O producer, less abundant under continuous corn. N fertilization in CCC or CS systems decreased the abundance of the bacteria genera Variovorax and Steroidobacter, whereas Gp22 and Nitrosospira only showed this response under CCC. In this latter system, N fertilization resulted in increased abundances of the bacterial denitrifiers Gp1, Denitratisoma, Dokdonella, and Thermomonas, along with the fungus Hypocrea, a known N2O producer. The identified signatures could help future monitoring and comparison across cropping systems as we move toward more sustainable management practices. At the same time, this is needed primary information to understand the potential for managing the soil community composition to reduce nutrient losses to the environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Statistical Analysis and Visualizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbial Signatures in Fertile Soils Under Long-Term N Management

et al. 2021

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“…This is because many soil characteristics, including soil nutrient availability, ion concentration in soil solution, and organic carbon properties, are often directly or indirectly related to soil pH [65], and these factors may result in changing of soil microbial composition. Another reason maybe that soil pH directly affects the habitat of soil microorganisms, thus changing the composition of soil microbial community [66]. In the current study, the relative abundance of Gemmatimonadetes, Cyanobacteria, and Acidobacteria was significantly correlated with pH.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 46%

No tillage and residue mulching method on bacterial community diversity regulation in a black soil region of Northeastern China

et al. 2021

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Soil microorganisms are important components of agricultural ecosystems; they are important in agricultural soil nutrient cycle and are easily affected by soil tillage. The response of soil microbial community to tillage is very complex, and the effect of the no tillage and residue mulching method on soil microbial diversity remains unclear. In 2019, the soil was collected from an experimental field after 10 years of continuous cultivation in the black soil area of the Sanjiang Plain in Northeastern China. In this study, the diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community and their relationship with soil properties were explored via high-throughput sequencing under no tillage with four residue mulching treatments. No tillage with 60% residue mulching (NTR3) significantly increased the alpha diversity of the rhizosphere soil bacteria and changed the composition of the bacterial community—consistent with changes in soil physicochemical properties. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla in the sample soil. Soil physicochemical properties explained 80.6% of the changes in soil diversity and composition, of which soil organic carbon, soil pH, and soil temperature were the principal contributors. Our results suggest that no tillage and residue mulching is conducive to increasing soil organic carbon and soil nutrient content, which is a beneficial conservation tillage measure for black soil protection in Sanjiang Plain of Northeast China. The no tillage with residue mulching, especially 60% residue mulching, alters soil bacterial community and highlights the importance of soil physicochemical properties in shaping the diversity and composition of the soil bacterial community. Our findings contribute to a broad understanding of the effects of no tillage and residue mulching on bacterial community differences and provide a scientific basis for the optimization of no tillage measures and sustainable utilization of the black soil of the Sanjiang Plain in Northeastern China.

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