Conservation tillage increases soil bacterial diversity in the dryland of northern China

Wang, Ziting; Lü, Linnü; Chen, Qing; Wen, Xiaoxia; Liao, Yuncheng

doi:10.1007/s13593-016-0366-x

Cited by 123 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Conservation tillage has been linked to increases in overall diversity (see e.g. [ 14 , 21 , 63 , 69 , 70 ]) likely related to the preservation of microhabitats [ 62 , 63 ]. Consistent with prior studies, we observed a significant increase in the Shannon diversity index under no till treatment ( Fig 2 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also, decomposition of cover crops must be rapid enough to allow timely planting of the following crop [ 1 , 12 ]. No-till farming can reduce costs by reducing the use of heavy and expensive equipment, and can increase soil aggregation, SOM in the surface layer, water infiltration, water holding capacity, and reduce erosion [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. On the other hand, no-till fields require closer monitoring, increased herbicide use for weed management, specialized equipment for planting new crops in surface residue, and may lead to reduced yields [ 1 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long-term use of cover crops and no-till shift soil microbial community life strategies in agricultural soil

et al. 2018

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Reducing tillage and growing cover crops, widely recommended practices for boosting soil health, have major impacts on soil communities. Surprisingly little is known about their impacts on soil microbial functional diversity, and especially so in irrigated Mediterranean ecosystems. In long-term experimental plots at the West Side Research and Extension Center in California’s Central Valley, we characterized soil microbial communities in the presence or absence of physical disturbance due to tillage, in the presence or absence of cover crops, and at three depths: 0–5, 5–15 and 15–30 cm. This characterization included qPCR for bacterial and archaeal abundances, DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, and phylogenetic estimation of two ecologically important microbial traits (rRNA gene copy number and genome size). Total (bacterial + archaeal) diversity was higher in no-till than standard till; diversity increased with depth in no-till but decreased with depth in standard till. Total bacterial numbers were higher in cover cropped plots at all depths, while no-till treatments showed higher numbers in 0–5 cm but lower numbers at lower depths compared to standard tillage. Trait estimates suggested that different farming practices and depths favored distinctly different microbial life strategies. Tillage in the absence of cover crops shifted microbial communities towards fast growing competitors, while no-till shifted them toward slow growing stress tolerators. Across all treatment combinations, increasing depth resulted in a shift towards stress tolerators. Cover crops shifted the communities towards ruderals–organisms with wider metabolic capacities and moderate rates of growth. Overall, our results are consistent with decreasing nutrient availability with soil depth and under no-till treatments, bursts of nutrient availability and niche homogenization under standard tillage, and increases in C supply and variety provided by cover crops. Understanding how agricultural practices shift microbial abundance, diversity and life strategies, such as presented here, can assist with designing farming systems that can support high yields, while enhancing C sequestration and increasing resilience to climate change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term use of cover crops and no-till shift soil microbial community life strategies in agricultural soil

et al. 2018

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“…The results of our experiment are in line with the results of studies presented in reference publications. Wang et al [27] observed that the counts of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria in simplified tillage technologies were larger than in conventional tillage cultivation. Navarro-Noya et al [26] observed similar dependencies.…”

Section: Influence Of Various Cultivation Methods On Taxonomic Distrimentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Tillage and Cover Cropping on Soil Microbial Parameters and Spring Wheat Physiology

et al. 2020

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The soil tillage system and the distribution of stubble catch crops increase the content of organic carbon, thus increasing the biochemical activity of soil. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of leguminous cover crops and different tillage soil systems before spring wheat sowing on the count of soil microorganisms, biochemical activity, microbiological diversity and the physiological state of the plants in correlation with yield. The study compared and analysed the following systems: (1) conventional tillage (CT) to a depth of 22 cm, followed by spring wheat sowing using four simplified cultivation technologies called conservation tillage. The following simplified tillage systems were evaluated: (2) skimming before sowing the cover crop and spring wheat sowing after ploughing tillage (CT), (3) skimming before sowing of the cover crop (sowing wheat with no-till technology (NT)), (4) direct sowing of ground cover plants (NT) and spring wheat sowing after ploughing cultivation (CT) and (5) direct sowing of cover crop (NT) and sowing wheat directly into cover crop (NT). The results showed that applying the cover crop and soil tillage method before sowing wheat improved all tested parameters. The highest values of the analysed parameters were observed in the treatment with soil skimming before sowing of the cover plant, and then with sowing the wheat directly into the mulch. The activity of dehydrogenase was 90% higher, while the activity of phosphatase was 32% higher, in comparison to the control group. Both the activity of catalase and the biological index of fertility were 200% higher, in comparison to the control group. Metagenomic analysis showed that soil bacterial communities collected during treatment 'zero' and after different cultivations differed in the structure and percentage of individual taxa at the phylum level.

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“…The repeated tillage practices under CC may also affect their abundance and functioning in the agricultural soils [162]. Moreover, it is also commonly perceived that conventional CC practices decrease the biodiversity of soil earthworms more than conservation cropping practices [163,164]. Another study also reported that continuous cropping of cotton reduced the abundance of soil earthworms; among these, the abundance of Diplocardia caroliniana and Diplocardia caroliniana decreased up to 55-68%, and 88%, respectively [59].…”

Section: Soil Earthwormsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous Cropping Alters Multiple Biotic and Abiotic Indicators of Soil Health

et al. 2020

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The continuous cropping (CC) of major agricultural, horticultural, and industrial crops is an established practice worldwide, though it has significant soil health-related concerns. However, a combined review of the effects of CC on soil health indicators, in particular omics ones, remains missing. The CC may negatively impact multiple biotic and abiotic indicators of soil health, fertility, and crop yield. It could potentially alter the soil biotic indicators, which include but are not limited to the composition, abundance, diversity, and functioning of soil micro- and macro-organisms, microbial networks, enzyme activities, and soil food web interactions. Moreover, it could also alter various soil abiotic (physicochemical) properties. For instance, it could increase the accumulation of toxic metabolites, salts, and acids, reduce soil aggregation and alter the composition of soil aggregate-size classes, decrease mineralization, soil organic matter, active carbon, and nutrient contents. All these alterations could accelerate soil degradation. Meanwhile, there is still a great need to develop quantitative ranges in soil health indicators to mechanistically predict the impact of CC on soil health and crop yield gaps. Following ecological principles, we strongly highlight the significance of inter-, mixture-, and rotation-cropping with cover crops to sustain soil health and agricultural production.

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Conservation tillage increases soil bacterial diversity in the dryland of northern China

Cited by 123 publications

References 30 publications

Long-term use of cover crops and no-till shift soil microbial community life strategies in agricultural soil

Long-term use of cover crops and no-till shift soil microbial community life strategies in agricultural soil

The Influence of Tillage and Cover Cropping on Soil Microbial Parameters and Spring Wheat Physiology

Continuous Cropping Alters Multiple Biotic and Abiotic Indicators of Soil Health

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