Chemical fumigation and biofumigation alter soil bacterial community diversity and composition

Abstract Chemical fumigation and biofumigation are used to reduce soil-borne diseases in agricultural production systems; however, nontargeted soil microorganisms may also be affected. This study compared the effects of chemical fumigation, either used alone or combined with an organic amendment, and biofumigation on soil bacterial community diversity and composition under controlled conditions over 160 days. Treatments included: fumigation with chloropicrin (CP), fumigation with metam sodium used alone (MS) or combined with barley plant residues (MSBR), biofumigation with mustard plant residues, addition of barley plant residues and untreated control. Biofumigation had a greater impact on bacterial diversity at early time points, transiently decreasing species evenness and yielding the most dissimilar β-diversity after 3 days. MS fumigation did not affect bacterial diversity indices; however, MSBR transiently decreased species evenness after 8 days. CP-treated soil had decreased species evenness that did not recover over time and had the most dissimilar β-diversity at the end of the incubation compared with all other treatments. This study demonstrated that CP fumigation had the greatest and most persistent impact on bacterial diversity, whereas MS fumigation and biofumigation led to transient decreases in bacterial diversity. Biofumigation had a greater impact on soil bacterial diversity at early time points, whereas chloropicrin fumigation had the most marked and persistent effect on bacterial diversity.