The effect of moisture on soil microbial properties and nitrogen cyclers in Mediterranean sweet orange orchards under organic and inorganic fertilization

Abstract

Water shortage and soil degradation are common environmental stressors encountered in the Mediterranean area. We evaluated how different soil moisture levels, dependent on distance from drip irrigation points, impact on the biological, chemical and physical properties of citrus soil under organic and inorganic fertilization. We measured soil physicochemical properties, basal soil respiration, soil microbial biomass carbon, soil microbial community structure (phospholipid fatty acid assay), bacterial load (16S rRNA gene abundance), enzymatic activities (urease, dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase and acid phosphatase) and abundance of microbial nitrogen cyclers (quantitative PCR). A field experiment was established in an orange orchard (Citrus sinensis) in southeast Spain and eighteen soil samples were taken from each plot to compare the impacts of soil moisture: near (wet, w) or away (dry, d) from drip-irrigation points, in plots with inorganic fertilizers under intensive ploughing (PI) or organic fertilization (OA). The results showed that changes in microbial properties and soil microbial indexes were strongly associated with soil moisture content under both organic and inorganic fertilization, and with organic carbon content. Soil moisture influenced soil aggregation, basal soil respiration, phosphatase activity, bacterial and fungal load (PLFAs) and the abundances of bacterial N cycling genes, including nifH (nitrogen fixation) nirS/K and nosZ genes (denitrification) and amoA-B (bacterial nitrification). The potential for N fixation and denitrification, two microbial processes that are crucial for determining the amount of N in the soil, were improved by increased soil moisture in the proximity of the drip irrigation. Soil OC and total N, which are higher under organic fertilization than under inorganic fertilization, were also shown to be highly correlated with the abundance of the N cycling genes. By controlling irrigation doses and applying organic amendments, it may be possible to increase the microbial abundance and function in soil and support greater fertility of soils.

Keywords: Citrus; Drip irrigation; Nitrogen cycle genes; PLFAs; Soil moisture; Sustainable agriculture.