Organic and Inorganic Amendments Shape Bacterial Indicator Communities That Can, In Turn, Promote Rice Yield

Abstract

The dynamic patterns of the belowground microbial communities and their corresponding metabolic functions, when exposed to various environmental disturbances, are important for the understanding and development of sustainable agricultural systems. In this study, a two-year field experiment with soils subjected to: chemical fertilization (F), mushroom residues (MR), combined application of chemical fertilizers and mushroom residues (MRF), and no-fertilization (CK) was conducted to evaluate the effect of fertilization on the soil bacterial taxonomic and functional compositions as well as on the rice yield. The highest rice yield was obtained under MRF. Soil microbial properties (microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), urease, invertase, acid phosphatase, and soil dehydrogenase activities) reflected the rice yield better than soil chemical characteristics (soil organic matter (SOM), total N (TN), total K (TK), available P (AP), available K (AK), and pH). Although the dominant bacterial phyla were not significantly different among fertilizations, 10 bacterial indicator taxa that mainly belonged to Actinobacteria (Nocardioides, Marmoricola, Tetrasphaera, and unclassified Intrasporangiaceae) with functions of xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism and amino acid and nucleotide metabolism were found to strongly respond to MRF. Random Forest (RF) modeling further revealed that these 10 bacterial indicator taxa act as drivers for soil dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase, pH, TK, and C/N cycling, which directly and/or indirectly determine the rice yield. Our study demonstrated the explicit links between bacterial indicator communities, community function, soil nutrient cycling, and crop yield under organic and inorganic amendments, and highlighted the advantages of the combined chemical and organic fertilization in agroecosystems.

Long-Term Manure Amendment Sustains Black Soil Biodiversity by Mitigating Acidification Induced by Chemical N Fertilization

“…Organic fertilization is considered an alternative, more environmentally friendly strategy that can prevent the disadvantages related to the excessive use of chemical fertilization. It has been reported that organic fertilizers could lead to a lower degree of soil nutrition than that of chemical fertilizers [ 5 , 6 ]. Long-term fertilization field experiments in global regions have demonstrated that the simultaneous application of chemical and organic fertilizers is beneficial for modern farming; this is because it can promote crop yield while ensuring soil state and meeting the demand of sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Editorial for Special Issue “Advances in Soil Microbiome”

“…Alongside manure, chemical fertilization is another method to increase plant yields. There are several different types of such fertilizers, and a study by Dr. Qiu and others (“Organic and Inorganic Amendments Shape Bacterial Indicator Communities That Can, In Turn, Promote Rice Yield”) showed how these amendments could both affect microbial community structure and rice yield [ 10 ]. They found that 10 bacterial taxa in the Actinobacteria phyla with roles in xenobiotic metabolism responded strongly to chemical fertilization.…”