Soil microbial biomass and community composition as affected by cover crop diversity in a short‐term field experiment on a podzolized Stagnosol‐Cambisol

Background: Cover cropping appears as a useful land management practice with numerous benefits for ecosystem functions. Aim: The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of different winter cover crops on soil microbial biomass, activity, and community composition in intensively manage...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of plant nutrition and soil science 2020-08, Vol.183 (4), p.539-549
Hauptverfasser: Di Rauso Simeone, Giuseppe, Müller, Mireen, Felgentreu, Christoph, Glaser, Bruno
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Background: Cover cropping appears as a useful land management practice with numerous benefits for ecosystem functions. Aim: The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of different winter cover crops on soil microbial biomass, activity, and community composition in intensively managed agriculture systems as function of cover crop diversity. Methods: For this purpose, an on‐farm experiment was conducted at a podzolized Stagnosol‐Cambisol during seven months growing oil radish as single cover crop and five different cover crop mixtures comprising 5 to 13 plant species. A fallow treatment was used as control. Phospholipid fatty acids were used to determine the soil microbial biomass and soil microbial community composition. Basal respiration of the soil microorganisms was measured as a proxy for microbial activity. Results: The results show that none of the cover crop mixture could increase soil organic carbon or total nitrogen content. Three cover crop mixtures and oil radish as single cover crop significantly increased soil microbial biomass by about 50% and all of the investigated cover crops significantly increased microbial respiration and metabolic quotient by 50–150%. Only highly diverse cover crop mixtures significantly increased individual microbial groups such as Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria, actinobacteria, and saprotropic and mycorrhizal fungi by about 20% compared to the control. However, the ratio of fungi to bacteria was not influenced by any of the cover crop mixtures under study. Conclusion: These findings corroborate that aboveground plant diversity is linked to belowground microbial diversity.
ISSN:1436-8730
1522-2624
DOI:10.1002/jpln.201900526