Biochar and organic fertilizer applications enhance soil functional microbial abundance and agroecosystem multifunctionality

Abstract

Biochar and organic fertilizer are widely supported to maintain crop production and sustainable development of agroecosystems. However, it is unclear how biochar and organic fertilizer alone or in combination regulate soil functional microbiomes and their relationships to ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Herein, a long-term (started in 2013) field experiment, containing five fertilization treatments, was employed to explore the effects of biochar and organic fertilizer applications on the EMF (based on 18 functional indicators of crop productivity, soil nutrient supply, element cycling, and microbial biomass) and the functional microbiomes of bulk soil and rhizosphere soil [normalizing the abundances of 64 genes related to carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and sulphur (S) cycles]. Compared with single-chemical fertilization, biochar and organic fertilizer inputs significantly enhanced most ecosystem-single functions and, in particular, the EMF significantly increased by 18.7–30.1%; biochar and organic fertilizer applications significantly increased the abundances of soil microbial functional taxa related to C-N-P-S cycles to varying degree. The combined application of biochar and organic fertilizer showed a better improvement in these indicators compared to using them individually. Most functional microbial populations in the soil, especially the taxa involved in C degradation, nitrification, nitrate-reduction, organic P mineralization, and S cycling showed significantly positive associations with the EMF at different threshold levels, which ultimately was regulated by soil pH and nutrient availability. These results highlight the strong links between soil microbiomes and agroecosystem functions, as well as providing scientific support for inclusion of biochar in agricultural production and services with organic amendments. Graphical Abstract

Deciphering the Energy Use Channels in Soil Organic Matter: Impacts of Long-term Farmyard Manure Addition and Microbial Necromass Revealed by LC-FT-ICR-MS

“…Altogether we found that FYM addition favoured a WEOM composition that appears readily available to bacteria or fungi. Since WEOM can be seen as a link between SOM pools, our findings point to an increased potential for bacterial and fungal sequestration of C, in line with studies showing increased SOC and nutrient storage, soil enzyme activity and microbial biomass in FYM-receiving soils (Hu et al, 2024). On the other hand, our findings also indicate a loss of energy-poor SOM at the expense of an increased microbial activity leading to the formation of SOM dominated by microbial NM.…”

Effects of returning peach branch waste to fields on soil carbon cycle mediated by soil microbial communities

“…The OF and MC treatments increased the relative abundance of photoautotrophy and anoxygenic photoautotrophy, indicating an enhanced capacity for CO 2 fixation into SOC, which in turn leads to the accumulation of SOC and reduction of CO 2 emissions ( Supplementary Figures S4i,j ; Wu et al, 2024 ). The improvement of pH may be a key factor in increasing the abundance of autotrophic microorganisms ( Supplementary Table S2 ; Huang et al, 2018 ; Hu et al, 2024 ). Furthermore, we found that soil pH had a positive total effect on SOC content and a negative total effect on CO 2 fluxes ( Figures 8C , D ).…”

Effect of Organic Fertilizer Substitution for Chemical Fertilizer on Soil Microbial Communities in Paddy Fields

“…Soil microorganisms are part of the soil environment and include bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists, and viruses and play an important role in maintaining the balance of soil ecosystems and promoting crop production (Berg et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2024). Many metabolic processes, such as nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and phosphorus conversion, are involved by soil microorganisms, which greatly promote nutrient cycling and maintain the stability of the soil state (Kaye et al, 2005;Parniske, 2008;Amato and Ladd, 1994;Hu et al, 2024). However, soil microbial activities depend greatly on soil properties, such as soil nutrient content, and respond to changes in these properties from the environment (Truu et al, 2008).…”