Tillage Practice Impacts on the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Topsoil Microbial Communities in an Agricultural Field

Abstract

Soil microorganisms are the core force driving the conversion of plant residues into soil organic carbon (SOC). Identifying the changes in soil microorganism responses to tillage practices is a key step in understanding the SOC sequestration potential. The aim of this study is to assess the impacts of different tillage practices on microbial communities and functions in agricultural soils. A field experiment involving no tillage (NT), rotary tillage (RT), and deep tillage (DT) in winter wheat-summer maize double cropping was performed to determine the structure of the microbial community and its functions using metagenomics. We found that tillage practices changed the composition of soil microbial communities and their functions related to the C cycle. The relative abundance of fungi in DT was significantly higher than that of the NT and RT treatments and primarily facilitated the growth of the fungi community. Moreover, DT treatment increased the relative abundance of genes involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism genes and carbohydrate metabolism pathway genes, in addition to those encoding carbohydrate-binding modules. Therefore, we concluded that DT increases the transformation potential of straw-C to SOC in the North China Plain where large amounts of wheat and maize straw are returned to the field every year.

Intermittent Deep Tillage on Improving Soil Physical Properties and Crop Performance in an Intensive Cropping System

“…The results of this study indicated that the introduction of deep tillage into the C-RT could affect the availability of soil nutrients by changing the distribution of straw in soil, and increasing SOC in deep soil layers (Table 5). DT increased the composition of soil microorganisms and increased the transformation potential of straw-C to SOC [44]. Studies by Gomez-Rey [45] and Peixoto [21] showed the same result, namely, that occasional deep tillage changes soil texture, increases aeration and the uniform distribution of nutrients, thus increasing soil enzyme activity.…”

Restructuring Tilth Layers Can Change the Microbial Community Structure and Affect the Occurrence of Verticillium Wilt in Cotton Field

“…The soil microbial community is an important indicator of soil quality and tillage impacts soil microbes [4]. In this study, RTL exchanged the subsoil with the topsoil, after which the microbial groups of the different soil depths changed accordingly.…”

“…Tillage plays a vital role in agricultural systems by providing suitable soil structure for seeds, repressing pests and weeds [2] and influencing crop root growth and yield [3]. Tillage not only improves the physical and chemical properties of soil, but also changes soil microbial communities [4,5]. Moreover, different tillage practices can promote the growth of microbes with different niches and alter the vertical distribution of soil microbial communities [6,7].…”

Effects of restructuring tilth layers on the occurrence of Verticillium wilt and the soil microbial community in a continuous rotary tillage cotton field

“…The soil microbial community is an important indicator of soil quality and tillage impacts soil microbes [29]. In this study, RTL exchanged the subsoil with the topsoil, after which the microbial groups at different soil depths changed accordingly.…”