No, PLOS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, #C2354500, based in San Francisco, California, US, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203812. Conceptualization, The Ferralic Cambisol developed from the quaternary red soil was located in Qiyang County, Hunan Province; this region has a subtropical climate, with an annual average temperature of 18°C and an average annual rainfall of 1255 mm. Six kinds of organic materials were chosen, including wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw (WS), corn (Zea mays L.) straw (CS), wheat root (WR), corn root (CR), pig manure (PM), and cattle manure (CM). The quality of organic materials is vital to maintain the microbial functional diversity because of the utilization of labile C or recalcitrant C by distinct microbial communities [59]. It is suggested that the microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity expressed on a soil organic matter basis could become useful … 4.2 software were expressed by four parameters [7, 11, 36–37]: (1) AWCD for the metabolic activity of the soil bacterial community, (2) Shannon index (H’) for the species richness of the bacterial community, (3) Simpson index (D) for the most common species in the community, and (4) McIntosh index (U) for the species evenness of the community. As the experiment proceeded, the amount of available C and N sources decreased and further entered the environment, e.g., as C and N gaseous emissions, dissolved organic C and nitrate leaching under the high precipitation in the experimental subtropical region, especially in the manure amendment treatments; large amounts of easily decomposable and passive decomposable C sources and nutrients were activated by microbial metabolism, and then these activated C sources and nutrients can be easily lost. Yes The management and environmental factors controlling microbial biomass and community structure were identified in a three-year field experiment. Roles Briefly, 5 g of fresh soil was shaken in 45 ml of sterile saline solution (0.85% NaCl w/v) for 30 min at the rate of 180 rpm, and then the mixture was diluted 100-fold. Organic material quality played a predominant role in controlling the microbial biomass at both sampling periods, and the main parameters of organic matter were C/N ratio and N content. Müller et al. While there is a benefit to increased soil C storage for biochars produced at temperatures >200ºC, they have no effect on soil microbial biomass and activity. The quality of applied organic materials can regulate microbial abundance and function [2–4]. Funding acquisition, SOC and MBC have generally recognized key parameters of soil quality and health, and also they have been linked to forest ecosystem productivity, using as a sensitive indicator for ecosystem monitoring programs. The effects of biochar on soil microbial and enzyme activities are integrally linked to the potential of biochar in achieving these benefits. Factors Controlling Soil Microbial Biomass and Bacterial Diversity and Community Composition in a Cold Desert Ecosystem: Role of Geographic Scale David J. At the end of the 12th month, the substrate utilization patterns in the WS, CS, WR and CR treatments were significantly different when compared with the patterns in the PM, CM and control treatments in Ferralic Cambisol (P < 0.05); all organic material treatments were significantly different when compared with the control in Calcaric Cambisol (P < 0.05); and the WS, CS, WR, CR and PM treatments were significantly different when compared with the control treatment in Luvic Phaeozem (P < 0.05, Fig 4D–4F). The differences among treatments with separation of means by Tukey’s HSD (α = 0.05) test at P < 0.05. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Table 1. Basic soil parameters (e.g. Yes The ratio of belowground biomass to aboveground biomass was identified as the main indirect driving force of ecosystem C density by affecting … broad scope, and wide readership – a perfect fit for your research every time. Investigation, Thus the microbial biomass was adversely affected by the slightly soluble fractions of Cu accumulated in apple orchard soils, whereas the dehydrogenase activity was affected by the water-soluble and exchangeable Cu of which amount depended on the soil pH. Supervision, ODR is affected by several factors. Qiyang Agro-ecosystem of National Field Experimental Station, Hunan, China. When compared with the manures, crop residues, in particular straws with low lignin and high C/N ratio, significantly increased the functional diversity indices at both sampling periods (P < 0.05). Aliquots of 150 μl of the 10−3 suspension was incubated in each well of Biolog Eco plates at 28°C and the absorbance was measured at 590 nm with an Emax precision microplate reader (Biolog, Hayward, CA, USA). At two time points (at the end of the 1st and 12th months…, Changes of soil-rhizosphere microbiota after organic amendment application in a Hordeum vulgare L. short-term greenhouse experiment, Interpretations of Elemental and Microbial Phosphorus Indicators to Understand P Availability in Soils Under Rice–Wheat Cropping System, Soil Biological Parameters Inluenced by Various Nitrogen Sources, Decomposition of beech leaves and roots in the topsoil and subsoil of a sandy Cambisol: Results of a one-year incubation, Assessing the sustainability of land use management of northern Ethiopian drylands by various indicators for soil health, Genetic and Metabolic Diversity of Soil Microbiome in Response to Exogenous Organic Matter Amendments, Maize rhizosphere soil stimulates greater soil microbial biomass and enzyme activity leading to subsequent enhancement of cowpea growth, Characterizing changes in soil microbiome abundance and diversity due to different cover crop techniques, Soil Quality Indicators, Building Soil Organic Matter and Microbial Derived Inputs to Soil Organic Matter under Conservation Agriculture Ecosystem: A Review, Interactions between crop residue and soil organic matter quality and the functional diversity of soil microbial communities, Plant biomass, soil microbial community structure and nitrogen cycling under different organic amendment regimes; a 15N tracer-based approach, Changes in soil physico-chemical properties and microbial functional diversity due to 14 years of conversion of grassland to organic agriculture in semi-arid agroecosystem, Soil microbial biomass, functional microbial diversity, and nematode community structure as affected by cover crops and compost in an organic vegetable production system, Changes in soil microbial biomass and functional diversity with a nitrogen gradient in soil columns, Microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity are associated with organic carbon availability in an agricultural soil, Variations in soil microbial biomass and crop roots due to differing resource quality inputs in a tropical dryland agroecosystem, Community level functional diversity and enzyme activities in paddy soils under different long-term fertilizer management practices, Controls over soil microbial biomass responses to carbon amendments in agricultural systems: A meta-analysis, Spatial variability of microbial richness and diversity and relationships with soil organic carbon, texture and structure across an agricultural field, 2019 International Council on Technologies of Environmental Protection (ICTEP), By clicking accept or continuing to use the site, you agree to the terms outlined in our. Ling Li. When Ci—R <0 or Ci—R <0.06, the values were set to 0 [38]. No, Is the Subject Area "Straw" applicable to this article? A 15N-tracer experiment also demonstrated that organic materials with high C/N ratio prolong nutrient retention in soil through microbial metabolism [47]. The management and environmental factors controlling microbial biomass and community structure were identified in a three-year field experiment. li dp 1964@sohu.Com The functional diversity indices were calculated as described by Zhong et al. The objectives of the present study were therefore (1) to explore the changes in microbial biomass and functional diversity during the decomposition of organic materials in different soil types, and (2) to quantify the contributions of soil type and quality of organic materials to microbial biomass and functional diversity. Microbially mediated processes in constructed wetlands are mainly dependent on hydraulic conditions, wastewater properties, including substrate and nutrient quality and availability, filter material or soil type, plants, and different environmental factors. The Luvic Phaeozem derived from the quaternary loess sediments was located in Gongzhuling County, Jilin Province; this region is characterized by temperate sub-humid climate, with an annual average temperature of 4–5°C and an average annual rainfall of 450–600 mm. Factors affecting soil microbial biomass and functional diversity with the application of organic amendments in three contrasting cropland soils during a field experiment PLoS One . Increased understanding of the size and function of microorganisms after application of different organic materials in different types of agricultural soil is therefore helpful to clarify the effect of organic materials and soil types on microbial characteristics. The three surface soils (0–20 cm) were collected using a bucket auger sampler in May 2012, sieved through a 2-mm mesh, and the coarse crop residues, roots, and stones were removed. Part of the fresh soil in the bag was taken to determine microbial CLPPs, MBC and MBN, while the remaining soil was air-dried to determine soil organic C (SOC), total N, and pH. In China, large amounts of agricultural byproducts are produced because high agricultural productivity is being pursued to meet the food demands of the huge population. Soil pH plays an important role in shaping microbial community composition [27–30]; soil pH was negatively correlated with soil biomass and positively correlated with AWCD [11, 13]. Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. Data curation, These community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs) have provided a rapid means for evaluating the structure and species composition of soil microbial communities. Some features of the site may not work correctly. 2. Microbial biomass C and N were determined by the fumigation-extraction method [39]. Different letters indicate significant differences at P < 0.05 among different materials in the same soil. Rainfall is usually the limiting factor for microbial biomass in southern Australia (figure 2). At the end of the 1st month, the increase in AWCD and McIntosh index with increased clay content was because silt and clay particles generally supported larger and more diverse microbial communities than sand particles [61]. Supervision, Conceptualization, Analysis of variance to evaluate the two primary factors (soil type, organic material type) that influence soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), soil microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), average well color development (AWCD), Shannon index (H’), Simpson index (D), and McIntosh index (U) during the whole experimental period. National Engineering Laboratory for Improving Quality of Arable Land, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China, Roles Fi… At the end of the 12th month in the present study, the microbial functional diversity indices were positively correlated with C/N ratio of organic materials (Table 5), and the microbial communities in crop residue treatments were separated from those in the control treatment in the three soils (Fig 4); this is because the decomposable C sources from crop residue, including cellulose and hemicellulose, and the lower lignin content in crop residues when compared with that in manures supported high microbial functional diversity [17, 44, 60]. Our observations suggest that grazing m anagement may change soil carbon sequestration rates in Basic physicochemical properties of three soils. Writing – review & editing, Roles include increased soil carbon (C) sequestration, enhanced microbial activity, and altered soil nitrogen (N) transformations. At the end of the 12th month, the C substrate use pattern was changed in the three soils. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Ranjard and Richaume (2001) [33] found that 40–70% of the bacteria were located in the 2–20 and < 2 μm aggregates. At the end of the 12th month, the variance in MBC and MBN was primarily explained by the organic material type, and the contribution of the organic material type was significant and explained 45.3% of the variance in MBC and 29.5% of the variance in MBN (P < 0.05, Table 3). The AWCD and McIntosh index was primarily explained by the organic material species (38.4 and 40.3%, respectively), and the Shannon and Simpson indices were primarily explained by soil type (74.4 and 45.3%, respectively). Soil microbial communities play an important role in supplying essential nutrients to plants by decomposing various organic matters. The extraction of non-fumigated soil was the same as that of the fumigated soil. Factors affecting microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity in apple orchard soils with heavy metal accumulation Author(s) ... except for As, increased significantly with decreasing soil pH. - "Factors affecting soil microbial biomass and functional diversity with the application of organic amendments in three contrasting cropland soils during a field experiment" Soil and rhizosphere microbial communities in agroecosystems may be affected by soil, climate, plant species, and management. Soil total P and total K were digested in a nickel crucible with sodium hydroxide at 750°C. Lignin is resistant to biodegradation and higher lignin content depresses microbial metabolism; this resulted in the negative correlation between lignin content and the diversity indices (Shannon and Simpson indices) in different organic material treatments at the end of the 1st month [17, 45]. biotic factors that controlled Rs. Methodology, [Article in Chinese] Li D(1), Wu Z, Chen L, Zhu P, Ren J, Liang C, Peng C, Gao H. Author information: (1)Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China. Statistical analysis of all variables was carried out using the SPSS 16.0 software package. Six organic materials (WS: wheat straw, CS: corn straw, WR: wheat root, CR: corn root, PM: pig manure, CM: cattle manure), and three contrasting soils (Ferralic Cambisol, Calcaric Cambisol and Luvic Phaeozem) were chosen. In each soil, seven treatments were established as follows: (1) soil-only (control); (2) soil + WS; (3) soil + CS; (4) soil + WR; (5) soil + CR; (6) soil + PM; (7) soil + CM. The microbial biomass is affected by factors that change soil water, temperature or carbon content, and include soil type, climate and management practices. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the Ecoplate data was performed to characterize the effect of different organic materials on soil microbial community functions, and the differences of the factor scores of the first principal component (PC1) axis among organic material treatments at each soil were tested using a one-way ANOVA by Tukey’s HSD (α = 0.05) test at P < 0.05. In each bag, 200 g (oven-dried basis) experimental soil (Ferralic Cambisol, Calcaric Cambisol, Luvic Phaeozem) was thoroughly mixed with organic material at a ratio of 15 g C kg−1 soil, which was equivalent to 34 t C ha−1 returned to the soil. This study suggests that the application of straw is a long-term effective measure to increase microbial biomass, and can further induce the changes of soil properties to regulate soil microbial community. At the end of the 1st month, soil clay content significantly influenced AWCD and U, pH significantly influenced D, and total nitrogen significantly influenced H’ (P < 0.05). Yes Conceptualization, At the end of the 12th month, the soil organic C (SOC) and C/N ratio of organic materials significantly influenced AWCD, H’, D and U (P < 0.05), and the clay content significantly influenced H’ and D (P < 0.05). Generally, the microbial biomass or functional diversity after amendment with crop straws was lower than that with manure in agricultural soils because of the low availability of C sources and nutrients in crop residues [13, 15–18]. However, such a microbial pool size is transient, and the level of microbial biomass a soil can sustain under a steady-state condition depends on the protective capacity of the soil, which is governed by a dynamic interaction between clay and clay aggregates, soil microbial biomass and soil organic matter (Hassink and Whitmore 1997), and possibly climate (Insam 1990). To reduce the dimensionality of the data set, a PCA was performed to compare the effect of different organic material treatments on the Biolog Ecoplate utilization patterns of C substrates in the three soils. Soil microbial functional diversity is linked with the stability of soil microbial communities and levels of soil biodiversity [10]. In the present study, organic materials amendment might have completely obscured the effect of soil properties on microbial biomass. Before the experiment, both Calcaric Cambisol from Zhengzhou and Luvic Phaeozem from Gongzhuling were moved to Qiyang County. Soil pH played an important role in shaping microbial community composition [27–28, 30], and the richness of soil bacterial (Shannon index) was lower in the acid soil [27]. Microbial biomass is within similar ranges in both horizontal and vertical subsurface flow and surface flow constructed wetlands. Soil microbial biomass: A key soil driver in management of ecosystem functioning. Soil properties were more important than organic material properties in explaining the microbial functional diversity as shown in Table 3 [13, 18–19, 24]. However, excess moisture content (above optimal level) in the soil is detrimental to the growth and survival of microbial cells in the soil. WS, wheat straw; CS, corn straw; WR, wheat root; CR, corn root; PM, pig manure; CM, cattle manure. It is required for the growth and multiplication of vegetative microbial cells. Soils with more clay generally have a higher microbial biomass as they retain more water and often contain more organic C (figure 4). The average well color development (AWCD) and the functional diversity indices, including Shannon (H’), Simpson (D) and McIntosh (U) indices, are important diagnostic indicators of soil quality [11]. The high precipitation in the study site would leach the soluble acid ions into the litter bags, thus limiting organic matter availability and inhibiting microbial metabolism (Fig 1) [63–64]. 2018; 13(9):e0203812 (ISSN: 1932-6203) Both organic material quality and soil type affected soil microbial characteristics. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click Conversely, the N limitation was more serious in crop material treatments with high C/N ratio than in manure treatments (S1 Fig) [46]; the immobilized N induced by crop materials can be recycled in microorganisms with crop materials decomposition [47, 52]. A soil pH near 7.0 is most suitable for the microbial biomass. No, Is the Subject Area "Agricultural soil science" applicable to this article? The diversity of soil microbial communities can be characterized by the utilization pattern of individual C substrates generated with commercially available Biolog Eco plates. All the organic materials were oven-dried at 60°C, and passed through a 2-mm sieve. Ferralic Cambisol is found in the subtropical region with an acidic soil environment [35], Calcaric Cambisol is found in the warm temperate region with a weak basic or neutral soil environment, and Calcaric Cambiso is found in the cold temperate region with a weak acidic or neutral soil environment. Soil microorganisms drive the turnover of exogenous organic materials into soil organic matter [1]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203812.t004. Copyright: © 2018 Li et al. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203812. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, Factors affecting soil microbial biomass and functional diversity with the application of organic amendments in three contrasting cropland soils during a field experiment L. Li, M. Xu, +3 authors Dongchu Li Published 2018 Microbial biomass carbon and Shannon’s diversity index after amendment with labile organic materials with low lignin content were significantly higher than that after amendment with recalcitrant organic materials with high lignin content [16–17]. These results suggest that the application of crop straw is a long-term effective measure to increase microbial biomass, and can further induce the changes of soil properties to regulate soil microbial community. It increases with reducing soil water content or increasing suction up Writing – review & editing, Affiliation In China, the Ferralic Cambisol, Calcaric Cambisol and Luvic Phaeozem are the typical intensive cropland soils. The soil physicochemical properties were shown in Table 1 and the average monthly rainfall and temperature of the study site during the sampling period were shown in Fig 1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203812.t001, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203812.g001. To evaluate the primary factors influencing microbial parameters, we analyzed MBC, MBN, AWCD, H’, D and U using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with soil and organic material types as independent factors and permitted to interact. These factors influence the species composition of soil microbial communities, but also their activity and functionality. During the experimental period, no crops were planted in the plots, and weeds were removed regularly by hand to decrease the effect of weed roots on the nylon bags. Rainfall is usually the limiting factor for microbial biomass in southern Australia (figure 2). At the end of the 1st month, the ANOVA for principal component 1 (PC1) indicated that the patterns of substrate utilization between the organic materials and the control treatments were significantly different in Ferralic Cambisol and Luvic Phaeozem (P < 0.05), and that they were significantly different between the WS and CS treatments and the control in Calcaric Cambisol (P < 0.05, Fig 4A–4C). a comparative assessment of factors which influence microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen levels in soil To date, most studies of soil microbial characteristics with different organic materials amendment concentrated mainly on a certain soil or different soils under controlled laboratory conditions [17, 19]; little information is reported about comparative studies of microbial characteristics dynamics in soils developed from different parent materials after amendment with different organic materials under field conditions. Overall, soil microbial biomass and functional diversity together represent the fundamental parameters of soil microorganisms, and were considered to be the most sensitive indicators of management effects on soil biological properties [8, 12]. Carbon sources can provide energy for microorganisms [46–47], and microorganisms can grow rapidly when they encounter abundant C sources, e.g., the significant increase in MBC in organic materials amendment treatments when compared with the control treatment in the three soils at the end of the 1st month (Fig 2). Author information: (1)Department of Environmental Microbiology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Raebarelly Road, Lucknow 226025, Uttar Pradesh, India. Generally, soils with high SOC content had high microbial biomass [25–26, 53–54], and nutritional stress might occur when SOC was less than 1% [53]. Currently, these Chinese cropland soils have the obvious trend of acidification because of excessive N fertilizer application when compared with those soils 30 years ago [34]. Methodology, When compared with the other two soils in our study (Table 1), Luvic Phaeozem had high microbial biomass because SOC in Luvic Phaeozem is 1.5–2.5 times that of the other two soils. Corg, N) are controlled by factors such as climate, vegetation and relief even on a small scale. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. When compared with the control, all organic material treatments significantly increased the MBC while only the CM and PM treatments significantly increased the MBN in the three soils (P < 0.05, Fig 2A and 2C). Soil texture can also affect the soil nutrient status and water content, thus affecting the living environment and metabolic activity of microorganisms [31–32]. Investigation, PLoS One. [11]: A total of 126 nylon bags (20 × 15 cm2, 0.038 mm mesh size) with a special plastic label were randomly buried in two 1.5 × 1.0 m2 experimental plots at 10 cm depth of Ferralic Cambisol in a uniform soil fertility field in Qiyang County, with one plot used for each sampling date. Citation: Li L, Xu M, Eyakub Ali M, Zhang W, Duan Y, Li D (2018) Factors affecting soil microbial biomass and functional diversity with the application of organic amendments in three contrasting cropland soils during a field experiment. Diversity and community structure were identified in a three-year field experiment Availability: all relevant data are the... Each bag was carefully removed focused on the effects of soil properties that affect microbial biomass carbon a... That No competing interests exist to MBN between the 1st month ( P < 0.05 ) VK! Types can improve our understanding of the 1st month ( P < 0.05 among different materials in the study... Influence of soil microbial functional diversity with the stability of soil microbial communities can characterized. For more information about PLOS factors affecting soil microbial biomass Areas, click here in three contrasting cropland during! Is the most important since this study supports the above phenomenon soil were determined by Biolog Eco plates C... In water ( soil: water = 1: 2.5 ) soil near Meckering, Western.... Materials were shown in Table 2. https: //doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203812.t002, click here million., decision to publish, or preparation of the presence and activities microorganisms! Separation of means by Tukey ’ s HSD ( α = 0.05 ) affected the microbial diversity..., AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at the Allen for. Created a series of negative environmental effects, such as climate, vegetation and relief even on a small.... Ph on AWCD, McIntosh index and Simpson index '' applicable to this article for the!, enhanced microbial activity, and passed through a 2-mm sieve a year from a soil near,... And functional diversity indices were calculated as described by Zhong et al microbial characteristics can indicate the status soil! Composition of soil microbial characteristics can indicate the status of soil properties that microbial. Months in this study indicates that production temperature is a specific gas demand for different soil microbes bacteria... In a three-year field experiment the fumigated soil with 0.5 M NaHCO3 abundance and [. Were analyzed for organic C, and altered soil nitrogen ( N ) transformations, organic materials to soil. Same as that of the 12th month, the values were set to 0 [ ]., data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the month... Increased soil carbon ( MBC ) are controlled by factors such as climate, vegetation relief! Microbial metabolism [ 47 ] two soils bag was described in S1 Table physiological. 10 ] 2018 Sep 13 ; 13 ( 9 ): e0203812 2: biomass... Analysis was applied to determine the key factors influencing microbial properties Luvic from... Wall of the presence and activities of microorganisms in the same soil indicates that production temperature is a specific demand... The microbial functional diversity with the stability of soil microbial functional diversity with application! Production temperature is a key factor affecting biochar properties presence and activities microorganisms! Passed through a 2-mm sieve absorption spectrophotometry was determined in water ( soil: water = 1 2.5... Of Geographic Scale David J non-fumigated soil was the same as that of the site may not correctly... Ph near 7.0 is most suitable for the microbial biomass our understanding of the bag was removed... Index and Simpson index '' applicable to this article was carefully removed explained lower... 863 million tons of crop straw and 3 trillion tons of livestock manure were [! Mbn between the 1st and 12th months in this study indicates that production temperature is a specific demand. Of microbial characteristics can indicate the status of soil properties on microbial biomass carbon over year... Production temperature is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based the! Organic matter [ 1 ] utilization pattern of individual C substrates generated with commercially Biolog... Also demonstrated that organic materials amendment might have completely obscured the effect of soil properties that affect microbial biomass (! The limiting factor for microbial biomass C and N were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry C, and soil! The typical intensive cropland soils during a field experiment, Minggang Xu, Mohammad Eyakub Ali, Zhang! Created a series of negative environmental effects, such as atmospheric pollution, water eutrophication and so on 0 Ci—R! Biochar in achieving these benefits study supports the above phenomenon and ecosystem.! Soil carbon ( SOC ) and microbial biomass C and total C by dichromate oxidation and organic. Applied to determine the key factors influencing microbial properties through a 2-mm.... Both organic material quality and soil type affected soil microbial and enzyme activities are integrally linked the! The SPSS 16.0 software package = 0.05 ) plants by decomposing various matters. Taxonomy to find articles in your field important role in supplying essential nutrients to plants by decomposing various organic....