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ARS Home » Plains Area » Brookings, South Dakota » Integrated Cropping Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #343051

Research Project: Soil and Crop Management for Enhanced Soil Health, Resilient Cropping Systems, and Sustainable Agriculture in the Northern Great Plains

Location: Integrated Cropping Systems Research

Title: Rotation history effects on soybean plants and rhizosphere microbiome

Author
item Benitez Ponce, Maria
item Osborne, Shannon
item Lehman, R - Michael

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/3/2017
Publication Date: 6/5/2017
Citation: Benitez Ponce, M.S., Osborne, S.L., Lehman, R.M. 2017. Rotation history effects on soybean plants and rhizosphere microbiome. Abstract. Soil Ecology Society Biennial Meeting, Ft. Collins, CO, June 5-9, 2017.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Benefits of diversified cropping systems stem from the interactions between soil characteristics, crop growth patterns and physiology, and other organisms. In order to assist in the understanding and implementation of diversified rotation sequences, a long-term experiment was established to evaluate the effects of 4-year rotation sequences containing soybean compared to a 2-year corn and soybean rotation. Within this experiment, soybean plant establishment and vigor was measured at the seedling and flowering stage, after four 4-year rotation cycles. Whole plants were sampled in the field for shoot biomass and nutrient content measurements, and rhizosphere microbiome characterization at both time points. Rotation sequence significantly affected early season establishment, rate of development and shoot biomass, where rotations with corn preceding soybean exhibited lowest vigor, regardless of length of rotation (2-year vs. 4-year).Rotations incorporating pea resulted in greatest soybean vigor when compared with counterpart rotations differing in only one crop in the sequence (e.g. corn, pea, winter wheat, soybean vs. corn, oat, winter wheat, soybean). Community-level analysis of rhizosphere-associated bacteria did not reveal differentiation in response to rotation or crop sequence. Rhizosphere-associated fungal communities, however, responded to previous crop at the seedling stage, where rotation sequences with winter wheat preceding soybean differentiated from rotation sequences with corn preceding soybean. Further analysis will focus on the interactions between rotation sequence length, crop species and order within each rotation sequence, and specific responses of rhizosphere communities. These data provide insight on the mechanisms promoting soybean establishment and vigor in diversified cropping systems.