Fertilization regimes affect the soil biological characteristics of a sudangrass and ryegrass rotation system

The sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) rotation is an intensive and new cropping system in Central China.Nutrient management practices in this rotation system may influence soil fertility,the important aspects of which are soil biological properties and quality.As sensitive soil biological properties and quality indicators,soil microbial community activity,microbial biomass,enzyme activities,soil organic matter (SOM) and total N resulting from different fertilization regimes in this rotation system were studied through a four-year field experiment from April 2005 to May 2009.Treatments included control (CK),fertilizer phosphorus and potassium (PK),fertilizer nitrogen and potassium (NK),fertilizer nitrogen and phosphorus (NP) and a fertilizer nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium combination (NPK).Soil microbial community activities in the NK,NP and NPK treatments were significantly lower than those in the CK and PK treatments after the sudangrass and ryegrass trial.The highest microbial biomass C,microbial biomass N,SOM,total N,sucrase and urease activities were found in the NPK treatment,and these soil quality indicators were significantly higher in the NK,NP and NPK treatments than in the PK and CK treatments.Soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities were positively associated with SOM in the sudangrass and ryegrass rotation system,indicating that fertilization regimes,especially N application,reduced microbial community activity in the soil.Proper fertilization regimes will increase microbial biomass,enzyme activity and SOM and improve soil fertility.

Microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity are associated with organic carbon availability in an agricultural soil

Exploration of soil environmental characteristics governing soil microbial community structure and activity may improve our understanding of biogeochemical processes and soil quality. The impact of soil environmental characteristics especially organic carbon availability after 15-yr different organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs on soil bacterial community structure and functional metabolic diversity of soil microbial communities were evaluated in a 15-yr fertilizer experiment in Changping County, Beijing, China. The experiment was a wheat-maize rotation system which was established in 1991 including four different fertilizer treatments. These treatments included： a non-amended control（CK）, a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer treatment（NPK）; a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with swine manure incorporated treatment（NPKM）, and a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with maize straw incorporated treatment（NPKS）. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis（DGGE） of the 16 S r RNA gene was used to determine the bacterial community structure and single carbon source utilization profiles were determined to characterize the microbial community functional metabolic diversity of different fertilizer treatments using Biolog Eco plates. The results indicated that long-term fertilized treatments significantly increased soil bacterial community structure compared to CK. The use of inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated for long term（NPKM, NPKS） significantly promoted soil bacterial structure than the application of inorganic fertilizer only（NPK）, and NPKM treatment was the most important driver for increases in the soil microbial community richness（S） and structural diversity（H）. Overall utilization of carbon sources by soil microbial communities（average well color development, AWCD） and microbial substrate utilization diversity and evenness indices（H＇ and E） indicated that long-term inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated（NPKM, NPKS） could significantly stimulate soil microbial metabolic activity and functional diversity relative to CK, while no differences of them were found between NPKS and NPK treatments. Principal component analysis（PCA） based on carbon source utilization profiles also showed significant separation of soil microbial community under long-term fertilization regimes and NPKM treatment was significantly separated from the other three treatments primarily according to the higher microbial utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, polymers, phenolic compounds, and amino acid, while higher utilization of amines/amides differed soil microbial community in NPKS treatment from those in the other three treatments. Redundancy analysis（RDA） indicated that soil organic carbon（SOC） availability, especially soil microbial biomass carbon（Cmic） and Cmic/SOC ratio are the key factors of soil environmental characteristics contributing to the increase of both soil microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity in the long-term fertilization trial. Our results showed that long-term inorganic fertilizer and swine manure application could significantly improve soil bacterial community structure and soil microbial metabolic activity through the increases in SOC availability, which could provide insights into the sustainable management of China＇s soil resource.

Combined organic-inorganic fertilization builds higher stability of soil and root microbial networks than exclusive mineral or organic fertilization

Plant health and performance are highly dependent on the root microbiome.The impact of agricultural management on the soil microbiome has been studied extensively.However,a comprehensive understanding of how soil types and fertilization regimes affect both soil and root microbiome is still lacking,such as how fertilization regimes affect the root microbiome's stability,and whether it follows the same patterns as the soil microbiome.In this study,we carried out a longterm experiment to see how different soil types,plant varieties,and fertilizer regimens affected the soil and root bacterial communities.Our results revealed higher stability of microbial networks under combined organic-inorganic fertilization than those relied solely on inorganic or organic fertilization.The root microbiome variation was predominantly caused by total nitrogen,while the soil microbiome variation was primarily caused by pH and soil organic matter.Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were major drivers when the soil was amended with organic fertilizer,but Actinobacteria was found to be enriched in the soil when the soil was treated with inorganic fertilizer.Our findings demonstrate how the soil and root microbiome respond to diverse fertilizing regimes,and hence contribute to a better understanding of smart fertilizer as a strategy for sustainable agriculture.

EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION OF MINERAL NITROGEN WITH ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON NITROGEN LOSS FROM SLOPING CROPLAND OF PURPLE SOIL

Nitrogen loss from purple soil can lead to large negative impacts to the environment considering the wide distribution of this soil type in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.Therefore,nitrogen loss patterns from sloping cropland of purple soil in the Sichuan Basin with the following fertilization regimes were studied in a wheat-maize rotation system:100%organic fertilizer(OM),using pig manure to replace 30%of mineral N(OMNPK)and crop residue to replace 15%of the mineral N(CRNPK)plus standard mineral fertilization(NPK)and no fertilizer control.The cumulative hydrological N loss could be as high as 45 kg·ha^(−1) N.The interflow accounted for up to 90%of the total N loss followed by sediment and overland flow losses.The high N loss via interflow found in this study highlighting that sloping cropland of purple soil may be one of the hot spots of N leaching.Compared to the NPK regime,organic substitution regimes(i.e.,OM,OMNPK and CRNPK)decreased total hydrological N loss loadings by 30%−68%.In addition,they can maintain annual crop yields and decrease yield-scaled total hydrological N losses by 18%−71%.In conclusion,long-term substitution of mineral N with organic amendments can maintain high crop productivity and reduce environmental N loss loadings,and thereby recommended as good N management practices to minimize the risk of agricultural non-point source pollution in the purple soil region of China.