Effects of crop production practices on soil characteristics and metabolic diversity of microbial communities under winter wheat
Anna M. Gajda
A D , Ewa A. Czyż B , Karolina Furtak A and Krzysztof Jończyk C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Agriculture Microbiology, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute, Czartoryskich Street 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
B Department of Soil Science, Environmental Chemistry, and Hydrology, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, Rzeszów University, Zelwerowicza Street 8 B, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland.
C Department of Systems and Economics Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute, Czartoryskich Street 8, 24-100 Puławy, Poland.
D Corresponding author. Email: ag@iung.pulawy.pl
Soil Research 57(2) 124-131 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR18113
Submitted: 25 April 2018 Accepted: 4 December 2018 Published: 24 January 2019
Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2019 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
The aim of this research was to compare the effects of organic (ORG, no mineral fertilisers and pesticides) and conventional (CON, with mineral fertilisation and plant protection chemicals) crop production systems on some soil properties: soil organic matter (SOM) and particulate organic matter (POM) contents, dehydrogenase activity and metabolic microbial diversity (Biolog EcoPlate™). Samples of Haplic Luvisol soil were collected from 23-year-old experimental fields under winter wheat from the depth layers of 0–5, 5–10, 15–20 and 30–35 cm. Soil under ORG showed higher contents of SOM, POM and POM expressed as a percentage of SOM by 16.0%, 25.6% and 23.9% respectively, in particular down to 5 cm depth, compared with the CON system. Also, dehydrogenase activity was 47.5% higher under the ORG than the CON system. The Biolog EcoPlate revealed higher metabolic microbial diversity in soil under ORG crop production system compared with CON. This result was supported by the average well colour development and Shannon’s diversity index values. Significant correlations between soil quality parameters and winter wheat yield confirmed their effectiveness as indicators of soil disturbance. The results showed that the ORG system much better maintained SOM and soil fertility compared with CON.
Additional keywords: Biolog EcoPlate, management systems, microbial metabolic diversity, soil properties, Triticum aestivum L.
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