Fertilization treatments affect soil CO2 emission through regulating soil bacterial community composition in the semiarid Loess Plateau

Abstract

A growing body of literature have emphasized the effects of fertilization regimes on soil respiration and microbial community in the semiarid region, however, fertilization treatment effects on the soil CO₂ emission, soil bacterial community, and their relationships from long-term experiments is lacking. In the present study, we investigated the effects of long-term fertilization regimes on soil bacterial community and thereafter on soil CO₂ emission. A 9-year field experiment was conducted with five treatments, including no fertilizer (NA) and four fertilization treatments (inorganic fertilizer (CF), inorganic plus organic fertilizer (SC), organic fertilizer (SM), and maize straw (MS)) with equal N input as N 200 kg hm^-2. The results indicated that CO₂ emission was significantly increased under fertilization treatments compared to NA treatment. The bacterial abundance was higher under MS treatment than under NA treatment, while the Chao1 richness showed opposite trend. MS treatment significantly change soil bacterial community composition compared to NA treatment, the phyla (Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and potential keystone taxa (Nitrosomonadaceae and Beijerinckiaceae) were higher, while the Acidobacteriota was lower under MS treatment than under NA treatment. CO₂ emission was positively correlated with the abundance of Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and keystone taxa, negatively correlated with these of Acidobacteriota. Random forest modeling and structural equation modeling determined soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and the composition and network module III of the bacterial community are the main factors contribute to CO₂ emission. In conclusion, our results suggest that the increased CO₂ emission was affected by the varied of soil bacterial community composition derived from fertilization treatments, which was related to Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Acidobacteriota, and potential keystone taxa (Nitrosomonadaceae and Beijerinckiaceae), and highlight that the ecological importance of the bacterial community in mediating carbon cycling in the semiarid Loess Plateau.