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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #411496
Research Project: Transdisciplinary Research that Improves the Productivity and Sustainability of Northern Great Plains Agroecosystems and the Well-Being of the Communities They Serve

Location: Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory

Title: Soil bacterial and fungal microbiomes under cotton production are more sensitive to tillage and cover crops than irrigation level in a semi-arid sandy soil

Author
item Petermann, Billi
item Acosta Martinez, Veronica
item LAZA, HAYDEE - Texas Tech University
item LEWIS, KATIE - Texas A&M Agrilife
item STEFFAN, JOSHUA - North Dakota Parks And Recreation
item SLAUGHTER, LINDSEY - Texas Tech University

Submitted to: Applied Soil Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2024
Publication Date: 12/1/2024
Citation: Petermann, B.J., Acosta Martinez, V., Laza, H.E., Lewis, K., Steffan, J., Slaughter, L.C. 2024. Soil bacterial and fungal microbiomes under cotton production are more sensitive to tillage and cover crops than irrigation level in a semi-arid sandy soil. Applied Soil Ecology. v204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105711.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105711

Interpretive Summary: Semi-arid regions are facing more extreme weather patterns, including drought. Cotton producers who rely on irrigation may have less irrigation water, such as the Ogallala Aquifer in the Texas Southern High Plains (SHP). This will impact cotton production in this region. More producers have started using practices such as no-till, cover crops, and crop rotations to improve the soil and decrease wind erosion. These conservation practices can change soil properties, affecting the bacteria and fungi in the soil. A three-year study at the Agricultural Complex for Advanced Research and Extension Systems (AG-CARES) in Lamesa, Texas, compared the soil bacteria and fungi present in conservation and conventional management practices under high and low irrigation. Similar bacteria and fungi were found under conservation and conventional practices. The bacteria and fungi found are known to be drought tolerant, and they were present in both high and low irrigation. This suggests that the type of bacteria and fungi are more influenced by the environmental conditions at this site than the different management practices. But the amounts of these organisms were different in conservation compared to conventional management. Our data suggest that practices such as no-till, cover crops, and crop rotations on the Texas SHP benefit soil bacteria and fungi populations, even with limited water. This research is useful to cotton producers by providing management options that will allow them to better adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Technical Abstract: Globally, producers in semi-arid regions experience challenging climatic conditions, such as variable rainfall, extreme temperature, and prolonged droughts that are expected to intensify over the next few decades. As a result, crop production in these regions relies heavily on irrigation from the surface and belowground sources that are becoming limited. This has influenced a transition toward more conservation practices such as no-till, winter cover crops, and crop rotations. Conservation practices can alter soil properties that affect the composition and function of the soil microbiome. Our study aimed to compare microbiome responses to long-term (> 7 years) tillage and cropping management changes in bulk (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm) and root-associated ecosystems under differing irrigation levels (High, Low) in sandy loam semi-arid soil. Cropping systems included a traditional agroecosystem (Continuous tillage with continuous monocrop, CCCT) compared to two no-tillage systems that included a rye cover crop (NTCR) and the other with a cotton/wheat rotation (NTCW). Our results revealed inconsistent diversity indices across treatments. In addition, the bacterial and fungal microbiomes had similar compositions at the phylum level under all management systems. However, the community structure of the microbiomes was influenced more by management practices than irrigation levels at lower taxonomic levels. Oligotrophic taxa dominated bacterial communities, while fungal communities were dominated by saprotrophs regardless of management or irrigation practices. Drought-tolerant taxa dominated bacterial communities, with no significant differences between high and low irrigation. Overall, our results suggest that environmental conditions influenced the composition of the bacterial and fungal communities, with management practices affecting the community structure.