Changes in Rhizosphere Soil Nutrients, Enzyme Activities, and Microbial Communities at Different Stages of Industrial Hemp Development

Abstract

Determining the nutrient requirements of industrial hemp to increase the yield requires quantifying variations in soil nutrients and enzyme activities in different growth stages, along with relevant soil microbial response. This study investigated the effects of different growth stages of industrial hemp on rhizosphere soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and microbial communities. The results showed that with the increase in the growth stages, the pH and available phosphorus (AP) decreased, while the soil organic matter (SOM), available nitrogen (AN), and available potassium (AK) increased substantially, indicating that the demand for nutrients of industrial hemp was constantly changing. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota were found to be the keystone taxa to adapt to the nutrient requirements of industrial hemp at different growth stages by regulating soil enzyme activity. Furthermore, using the redundancy analysis and Spearman’s correlation analysis, we found that microbial taxonomic composition was related to the variations in AN, AP, and pH. In general, we emphasized that the interaction between industrial hemp and soil is closely related to the growth stage, which increases plant adaptability and growth because of the change of soil microorganisms.