Effects of Intercropping of Sophora davidii (Franch.) Skeels and Pennisetum sinese Roxb on Soil Physical and Chemical Properties and Fungal Communities in Rhizosphere

Abstract

The intercropping treatment has been widely used to improve the crop productivity and achieve the development of efficient agricultural practice. In this study, to further explore the effect of Gramineae and Leguminosae intercropping, Sophora davidii (Franch.) Skeels and Pennisetum sinese Roxb under monoculture and intercropping were performed, the rhizosphere soil was collected, the physical and chemical properties (pH, AP, AK), enzyme activities (βG, LAP, NAG and AcP) and fungal community diversity were tested. In the results, intercropping changed the physical and chemical properties and enzyme activities of rhizosphere soil. Compared with the monoculture, intercropping decreased the α-diversity of soil fungal communities. At the phylum level, intercropping significantly increased the relative abundance of Ascomycota and Ciliophora, while decreased the relative abundance of Mucoromycota and Chytridiomycota, compared with monoculture. At the genus level, the relative abundances of Fusarium, Talaromyces, Preussia, Mycoleptodiscus, Plectosphaerella and Bracteacoccus in intercropping were higher than those under monoculture, while the relative abundances of Lablab, Aspergillus and Rumex were lower. RDA analysis showed that, soil fungal community structure was mainly affected by soil enzyme activity under intercropping system. In conclusion, the soil fungal community depends largely on management measures of monoculture and intercropping, compared with the dynamic changes in soil environmental parameters. This study can provide a reference for the assessment of soil ecological effect of intercropping.