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ARS Home » Plains Area » Sidney, Montana » Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory » Agricultural Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #369365
Research Project: Ecologically-Sound Pest, Water and Soil Management Practices for Northern Great Plains Cropping Systems

Location: Agricultural Systems Research

Title: Reponses of soil bacterial community and enzyme activity to organic matter components under long-term fertilization on the Loess Plateau of China

Author
item WANG, JUN - Northwest University
item FU, XIN - Northwest University
item GHIMIRE, RAJAN - New Mexico State University
item Sainju, Upendra
item JIA, JU - Northwest University
item ZHAO, FAZU - Northwest University

Submitted to: Applied Soil Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2021
Publication Date: 3/23/2021
Citation: Wang, J., Fu, X., Ghimire, R., Sainju, U.M., Jia, J., Zhao, F. 2021. Reponses of soil bacterial community and enzyme activity to organic matter components under long-term fertilization on the Loess Plateau of China. Applied Soil Ecology. 116.Article 103992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.103992.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2021.103992

Interpretive Summary: Long-term inorganic and organic fertilizers can enhance soil organic matter, but their impact on the soil microbial biome is less known. Researchers at ARS, Sidney, MT in collaboration with Northwest University, Xi'an, China, reported that a combination of inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers and organic manure enhanced soil enzyme activity and some bacterial community due to increased availability of carbon and nitrogen substrates compared to inorganic fertilizers alone or no fertilization. In addition, the combination of inorganic fertilizers and organic manure also increased soil carbon and nitrogen fractions and winter wheat yield. In regions where organic manure is abundant, producers can enhance soil health by increasing soil microbial activity, soil organic matter content and winter wheat yield by applying a combination of inorganic fertilizer and organic manure rather than inorganic fertilizer alone or no fertilizer at all.

Technical Abstract: Soil bacterial and enzyme activities and their relationships to soil C and N in response to long-term fertilization remain poorly understood. We investigated the effect of long-term (34 years) inorganic and manure fertilizations on soil C and N fractions, enzyme activity, and bacterial community structure and their relationships at 0-15, 15-30 and 30-60 cm depths in the Loess Plateau of China. Treatments included inorganic N and P fertilizers, manure (M), N + M (NM), N + P + M (NPM), and unfertilized control (CK) applied to winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Soil C and N fractions were soil organic C (SOC) and total N (STN), microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), potential C and N mineralization (PCM and PNM), NH4-N, and NO3-N. Most C and N fractions at 0-15 and 15-30 cm were greater with M, NM, and NPM, and winter wheat yield was greater with NPM than other treatments. At all depths, NPM increased ß-glucosidase, ß-xylosidase, and ß-N-acetylglucosidase compared to other treatments. Inorganic and manure fertilizations increased relative abundances of Proteobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes, but those of Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, and Latescibacteria decreased compared to the control. Most enzymes and bacterial phyla at 0-15 and 15-30 cm related to soil C and N fractions. A combination of inorganic N and P fertilizers and manure enhanced soil enzyme activity and some bacterial community due to increased availability of C and N substrates and also increased winter wheat yield compared to inorganic fertilizers alone or no fertilization.