Artificial soil aeration can enhance soil enzyme activity, improve soil nutrient cycling, and increase crop growth and yield. We studied the response of soil microorganisms and soil enzyme activity to two levels of burial depths of subsurface tubing in combination with four levels of aeration volume and three frequency levels of supplemental soil aeration. The aeration volumes (V) were 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 times (CK, V 1 , V 2 , and V 3 , respectively) the estimated porosity of the plot rhizosphere. Burial depths (D) of subsurface tubing were 15 and 40 cm (D 15 and D 40 ). Aeration frequencies (F) levels were none and at 2-and 4-d intervals (CK, F 2 , and F 4 ). The results demonstrated that aeration frequency and volume positively affected soil urease, phosphatase, and catalase activity and soil microbial abundance. The impact of aeration treatment on rhizosphere soil enzyme activity was greater than its impact on non-rhizosphere activity. When the drip irrigation tube depth was 15 cm, V 2 volume with 2-d aeration intervals led to an increase in the mean yield of first picking fruit of 75.1% compared with the unaerated control. When V 3 volume with 2-d aeration intervals was performed with a 40-cm irrigation tube, the mean yields of the first picking fruit increased by 135.5% compared with the unaerated control. These results suggest that artificial soil aeration can improve the plant root zone environment, increase microbial abundance and soil enzyme activity, and promote nutrient uptake, thus promoting plant growth and fruit output. S oil microorganisms and soil enzymes are important components of agricultural ecosystems. Bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes play important roles, including decomposing organic matter, degrading cellulose, and forming antibiotic substances. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria provide nitrogen sources for plants, whereas nitrobacteria prevent the accumulation of nitrite in the soil (Clarholm, 1985). Fungi are involved in the soil carbon cycle by decomposing cellulose, lignin, and pectin to release nutrients, and the development of the mycelium improves the physical structure of the soil (Tedersoo et al., 2014 Core Ideas• Rhizosphere soil enzymes activity showed an initial increase followed by a decrease.• soil aeration can enhance the activities of three rhizosphere soil enzymes.• Aeration frequency and volume can significantly affect rhizosphere enzyme activities.• Aeration can enhance the activities of non-rhizosphere soil enzymes.• soil aeration can increase tomato yield.
Background Salt stress is one of the environmental factors that greatly limits crop production worldwide because high salt concentrations in the soil affect morphological responses and physiological and metabolic processes, including root morphology and photosynthetic characteristics. Soil aeration has been reported to accelerate the growth of plants and increase crop yield. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of 3 NaCl salinity levels (28, 74 and 120 mM) and 3 aeration volume levels (2.3, 4.6 and 7.0 L/pot) versus non-aeration and salinity treatments on the root morphology, photosynthetic characteristics and chlorophyll content of potted tomato plants. Results The results showed that both aeration volume and salinity level affected the root parameters, photosynthetic characteristics and chlorophyll content of potted tomato plants. The total length, surface area and volume of roots increased with the increase in aeration volume under each NaCl stress level. The effect was more marked in the fine roots (especially in ≤1 mm diameter roots). Under each NaCl stress level, the photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content of tomato significantly increased in response to the aeration treatments. The net photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll a and t content increased by 39.6, 26.9, and 17.9%, respectively, at 7.0 L/pot aeration volume compared with no aeration in the 28 mM NaCl treatment. We also found that aeration could reduce the death rate of potted tomato plants under high salinity stress conditions (120 mM NaCl). Conclusions The results suggest that the negative effect of NaCl stress can be offset by soil aeration. Soil aeration can promote root growth and increase the photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll content, thus promoting plant growth and reducing the plant death rate under NaCl stress conditions.
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