Fertilization makes strong associations between organic carbon composition and microbial properties in paddy soil

Hetian Geng; Xudong Wang; Sibo Shi; Zhengqian Ye; Wenjing Zhou

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116605

Fertilization makes strong associations between organic carbon composition and microbial properties in paddy soil

J Environ Manage. 2023 Jan 1;325(Pt B):116605. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116605. Epub 2022 Nov 5.

Authors

Hetian Geng¹, Xudong Wang², Sibo Shi³, Zhengqian Ye¹, Wenjing Zhou¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Contaminated Soil Remediation, Hangzhou, 311300, China.
² College of Environmental and Resource Science, Zhejiang Agricultural and Forestry University, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Contaminated Soil Remediation, Hangzhou, 311300, China. Electronic address: wangxd@zafu.edu.cn.
³ College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.

PMID: 36347187
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116605

Abstract

Fertilization changes the soil organic carbon (SOC) composition, affecting the carbon cycle of paddy soil. Understanding the mechanisms of physical fraction and chemical composition of SOC responding to fertilization can help regulate the nutrient release and carbon sequestration. However, it is unclear whether these changes in SOC composition to fertilization are consistent and how these are regulated by biotic and abiotic properties. Therefore, a positioning experiment in a rice field was conducted with a total of nine treatments. Chemical fertilizers (0, 337.5, and 675 kg ha^-1; C₀, C₅₀, and C₁₀₀, respectively) and fungal residue (0, 10,000, and 20,000 kg ha^-1; F₀, F₅₀, and F₁₀₀, respectively) were applied to evaluated (i) changes in the physical fraction and chemical composition of SOC, (ii) changes in soil properties, microbial biomass and community, and (iii) establish relationships among soil properties, microbial community, microbial biomass, and SOC composition. Our results showed that the application of fungal residue exhibited more significant effects on SOC physical fractions than those with the chemical fertilizers. Furthermore, the chemical composition of SOC was more respond to the application of chemical fertilizers than fungal residue. The partial least squares path model indicated that soil properties mainly affected the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) by microbial biomass. In addition, bacterial diversity played an important role in improving the accumulation of MAOC. The SOC chemical composition was mediated by fungal community composition and bacterial diversity. In conclusion, fungal residue application affected SOC physical fraction by increasing soil properties, microbial biomass, and bacterial diversity. Chemical fertilizers application mainly mediated the chemical composition of SOC by altering fungal community composition and decreasing bacterial diversity.

Keywords: Chemical fertilizer; Fungal residue; Microbial community; Paddy soil; SOC chemical Composition; SOC physical Fraction.

MeSH terms

Agriculture / methods
Carbon / chemistry
Fertilization
Fertilizers / analysis
Minerals
Oryza* / chemistry
Soil Microbiology
Soil* / chemistry

Substances

Soil
Carbon
Fertilizers
Minerals