Chinese fir [Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.] is a critical timber tree species for its fast growth and high yield in southern China and is widely planted in subtropical regions of the country. However, the management of Chinese fir in the form of a monoculture plantation is not conducive to the maintenance of soil fertility and improvements in forest productivity. The establishment of mixed conifer–broad–leaved forests through near-natural transformation is developing into a promising method of forest cultivation for replacing large pure coniferous plantations. Bacteria and fungi are an important part of the soil microbiota and are involved in the soil nutrient cycle. Therefore, this study investigated the response of soil bacterial and fungal communities to the introduction of broad–leaved trees in three types of Chinese fir plantations [Cunninghamia lanceolata monoculture plantation (CMP), C. lanceolata–Castanopsis hystrix Hook. f. & Thomson ex A. DC.–Michelia hedyosperma Law. mixed plantation (CCM), and C. lanceolata–Castanopsis fissa (Champ. ex Benth.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson–Erythrophleum fordii Oliv. mixed plantation (CCE)] located in Guangxi Province, China. And the effect of soil layers (0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm soil depths) on the soil microbial communities was further analyzed. The results suggested that tree species mixing significantly affected bacterial and fungal communities, but soil depth only significantly affected bacterial communities (P < 0.01). The relative abundance of Basidiomycetes in CCE (53.91–78.76 %) was significantly higher than that in pure forest (P < 0.05). Bacteria exhibited more complex and multilinked networks in the mixed stands, particularly for the CCE plantation. Mixed planting patterns significantly enhanced bacterial nitrogen fixation and the presence of symbiotic fungi. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and correlation analyses indicated that the microbial community structure was strongly affected by soil environmental factors, with bacteria affected mainly by available phosphorous (AP) and fungi affected mainly by soil enzyme activity and total potassium (TK). In summary, the introduction of broad–leaved species (especially C. fissa and E. fordii) had a significant impact on the soil microbial community, increasing the relative abundance of bacterial nitrogen fixation and symbiotic fungi and generating a complex microbial network. We suggest that changes in AP, TK, and fungal communities should be considered in the near-natural transformation of Chinese fir or soil fertility maintenance and sustainable management to maintain soil fertility. 

Effects of tree species mixing and soil depth on the soil bacterial and fungal communities in Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) plantations

Struvites are circular-economy based fertilisers which are set to reduce some of the demand on finite phosphate rock in the European Union. While they are near similar in P and N content, with low P water solubility, subtle chemical differences exist between recovered struvites from different wastewaters. The objectives of this study were to assess if two struvites similar in N and P, but differing feedstock material, similarly effect tomato growth and tomato rhizosphere bacteria. A glasshouse experiment was setup using low-P soil and applications of struvite from municipal wastewater (MWS), struvite from potato wastewater (PWS) and compared to single superphosphate (SSP). While Tomato aboveground biomass yields were similar between the struvites (39.5 and 37.4 g/pot), they were 17–22 % lower in comparison to the SSP treatment (47.8 g/pot) when harvested during the early fruiting stages. However, P uptake was not significantly different among all the treatments ranging 21.6 to 25.4 mg P/pot. The PWS treated soil had a plant available P of 5.52 mg P/L at the fruiting stage that was comparable to that of SSP (4.74 mg P/L) but significantly greater than that of the MWS treatment (4.37 mg P/L). PWS and SSP tomato rhizosphere bacteria were ecologically similar but ecologically distant to the MWS treatment. Slow growing oligotrophic bacteria of the Xanthobacteraceae, Planococcaceae, and Bacillaceae families were abundant in MWS possibly because of the presence of Fe which limited P dissolution from the struvite. We concluded that while tomato had a similar agronomic response to PWS and MWS, the struvites affected the soil bacteria in the tomato rhizosphere differently. Long-term studies at field scale are recommended to identify the long-term suitability of struvites for horticulture crops. 

Struvites with comparable nitrogen and phosphorus composition have similar agronomic response but shape cherry tomato rhizosphere bacterial community structure differently

Amid growing environmental concerns and the imperative for sustainable agricultural practices, this study examines the potential of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria as biofertilizers, particularly in cotton cultivation. The reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers (SNFs), prevalent in modern agriculture, poses significant environmental challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions and water system contamination. This research aims to shift this paradigm by exploring the capacity of cyanobacteria as a natural and sustainable alternative. Utilizing advanced metabarcoding methods to analyze the 16S rRNA gene, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of soil bacterial communities within cotton fields. This study focused on evaluating the diversity, structure, taxonomic composition, and potential functional characteristics of these communities. Emphasis was placed on the isolation of native N2-fixing cyanobacteria strains rom cotton soils, and their subsequent effects on cotton growth. Results from our study demonstrate significant plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities, measured as N2 fixation, production of Phytohormones, Fe solubilization and biofertilization potential of five isolated cyanobacterial strains, underscoring their efficacy in cotton. These findings suggest a viable pathway for replacing chemical-synthetic nitrogen fertilizers with natural, organic alternatives. The reintegration of these beneficial species into agricultural ecosystems can enhance crop growth while fostering a balanced microbial environment, thus contributing to the broader goals of global sustainable agriculture. 

Emerging nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria for sustainable cotton cultivation.

Microcystins (MCs) are frequently detected in cyanobacterial bloom-impacted waterbodies and introduced into agroecosystems via irrigation water. They are widely known as phytotoxic cyanotoxins, which impair the growth and physiological functions of crop plants. However, their impact on the plant-associated microbiota is scarcely tackled and poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of MCs on microbiota-inhabiting bulk soil (BS), root adhering soil (RAS), and root tissue (RT) of Vicia faba when exposed to 100 μg L-1 MCs in a greenhouse pot experiment. Under MC exposure, the structure, co-occurrence network, and assembly processes of the bacterial microbiota were modulated with the greatest impact on RT-inhabiting bacteria, followed by BS and, to a lesser extent, RAS. The analyses revealed a significant decrease in the abundances of several Actinobacteriota-related taxa within the RT microbiota, including the most abundant and known genus of Streptomyces. Furthermore, MCs significantly increased the abundance of methylotrophic bacteria (Methylobacillus, Methylotenera) and other Proteobacteria-affiliated genera (e.g., Paucibacter), which are supposed to degrade MCs. The co-occurrence network of the bacterial community in the presence of MCs was less complex than the control network. In MC-exposed RT, the turnover in community composition was more strongly driven by deterministic processes, as proven by the beta-nearest taxon index. Whereas in MC-treated BS and RAS, both deterministic and stochastic processes can influence community assembly to some extent, with a relative dominance of deterministic processes. Altogether, these results suggest that MCs may reshape the structure of the microbiota in the soil-plant system by reducing bacterial taxa with potential phytobeneficial traits and increasing other taxa with the potential capacity to degrade MCs. 

Microcystin influence on soil-plant microbiota: Unraveling microbiota modulations and assembly processes in the rhizosphere of Vicia faba.

Fertilization is an important measure to quickly supplement the soil nutrients required for plantation productivity. However, the response patterns of the microbial community and functional taxa in Larix plantation root, rhizosphere, and bulk soil to short-term and consecutive fertilization have rarely been reported. In this study, we assessed Larix root, rhizosphere, and bulk soil microbial community on days 0, 5, 15, and 30 after the first inorganic fertilization and after three consecutive years of fertilization. The bacterial 16S and fungal ITS high-throughput sequencing technology were used to monitor changes in microbial community composition and potential functional groups, as well as changes in soil nutrient content and enzyme activity to evaluate the status of plantation soil productivity. Consecutive fertilization treatment significantly increased the available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) content and soil enzyme activity. The nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) results showed that there were significant differences in microbial community composition in root samples, rhizosphere soil, and bulk soil samples. The dominant microbial taxa were different between root and soil microbial community composition. Consecutive fertilization treatment had little effect on endophytic microbial community but significantly increased the abundance of Gaiellales in rhizosphere soil and Mortierella in bulk soil. The redundancy analysis (RDA) and co-occurrence network analyses showed that Gaiellales and Mortierellales had significant positive correlations with soil nutrient content and enzyme activity. The fungal functional group compositions were significantly affected by consecutive fertilization treatment and the proportions of ectomycorrhizal and saprotroph significantly decreased, but the proportion of endophyte significantly increased in bulk soil samples. Our results suggested that consecutive fertilization may promote soil nutrient availability by increasing the abundance of Gaiellales and Mortierella. Consecutive fertilization maintained the balance of the soil microbiota under Larix plantation and had a positive effect on promoting soil nutrient availability. This study provided a theoretical basis for consecutive fertilization to promote soil nutrient availability through specific microbial groups.

Consecutive Fertilization-Promoted Soil Nutrient Availability and Altered Rhizosphere Bacterial and Bulk Fungal Community Composition

Declining soil quality and microecological imbalances were evaluated in larch plantations in this study. One potential solution to this problem is the cultivation of mixed coniferous and broad-leaved plantations. However, it is unclear whether and how soil microbial community structure and nutrient cycling function would be affected by mixed plantations and soil depths. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing technology to investigate bacterial 16S and fungal ITS regions for comparisons of soil microbial diversity among plantation types (a Larix gmelinii pure plantation, a Fraxinus mandshurica pure plantation, a Larix–Fraxinus mixed plantation within the Larix row, the Fraxinus row, and between the Larix and Fraxinus rows) and soil depths (0–10, 10–20, and 20–40 cm). These data were used to evaluate variations in microbial communities and nutrient cycling function with the determining environmental factors. Our results indicated that bacteria had a stronger spatial dependence than did fungi, while plantation types significantly affected the fungal community. The relative abundance of Gaiellaceae, as well as bacterial ligninolysis, nitrate ammonification, and nitrite ammonification functions significantly increased with increasing soil depth. Compared with other plantations, the relative abundance of Inocybaceae was significantly higher in the Larix plantation. Distance-based redundancy analysis (db-RDA) showed that Gaiellaceae and Inocybaceae abundances were positively correlated with ammonium nitrogen content, available phosphorus content, and phosphatase activity. Our findings indicate that variations in soil available phosphorus are closely related to the relative abundances of Gaiellaceae at different soil depths and Inocybaceae in different plantation types. Mixed plantations might change the availability of soil phosphorus by controlling the relative abundance of Inocybaceae. We recommend that fungal community changes be considered in the sustainable management of mixed plantations.

/pdf/effects-of-plantation-type-and-soil-depth-on-microbial-18tnkfnk.pdf

Effects of Plantation Type and Soil Depth on Microbial Community Structure and Nutrient Cycling Function

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Zhanwei Wang

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

Effects of Plantation Type and Soil Depth on Microbial Community Structure and Nutrient Cycling Function