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Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2021, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (6): 510-521.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2021.21012

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Long-term effects of gravel-sand mulch thickness on soil microbes and enzyme activities in semi-arid Loess Plateau, Northwest China

ChengZheng Zhao1,2,YaJun Wang1(),Yang Qiu1,ZhongKui Xie1,YuBao Zhang1   

  1. 1.Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
    2.University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2021-02-22 Accepted:2021-06-06 Online:2021-12-31 Published:2022-01-11
  • Contact: YaJun Wang E-mail:wangyajun@lzb.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    the National Key R&D Program(2016YFC0501403-3)

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Abstract:

In semi-arid areas of China, gravel and sand mulch is a farming technique with a long history. In this study, a sample survey was conducted on long term gravel sand mulch observational fields in the Northwest Loess Plateau to determine the effects of long term mulch on soil microbial and soil enzyme activities. We found that after long term gravel-sand mulch, compared with bare ground, soil organic matter, alkali nitrogen, conductivity decreased, while pH and soil moisture increased. Urease, saccharase and catalase decreased with increased mulch thickness, while alkaline phosphatase was reversed. The results of Illumina MiSeq sequencing shows that after gravel-sand mulch, the bacterial and fungal community structure was different from bare land, and the diversity was reduced. Compared with bare land, the bacteria Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria abundance increased with increased thickness, and Actinobacteria was opposite. Also, at the fungal genus level, Fusarium abundance was significantly reduced, and Remersonia was significantly increased, compared with bare land. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that soil environmental factors were important drivers of bacterial community changes. Overall, this study revealed some of the reasons for soil degradation after long term gravel-sand mulch. Therefore, it is recommended that the addition of exogenous soil nutrients after long term gravel-sand can help improve soil quality.

Key words: gravel and sand mulch, soil microbes, soil enzyme activities, soil degradation, soil quality

Figure 1

Sparse curves of bacteria and fungi"

Figure 2

Abundance of bacterial and fungal phylum levels"

Figure 3

Fungal genus levels: changes in abundance of Fusarium and Remersonia"

Figure 4

PCA analysis of bacteria and fungi based on OTUs levels"

Figure 5

Activity of four enzymes under different gravel-sand mulch thickness (levels) (a, urease; b, saccharase; c, catalase; d, alkaline phosphatase)"

Figure 6

Soil physical and chemical properties of different mulch thickness (levels)（A： Soil moisture， B： Soil organic matter， C： Alkali-Hydrolyzable nitrogen， D： Available phosphorus， E： pH， F： Conductivity）"

Figure 7

Redundancy analysis (RDA) between bacterial phylum and selected environmental factors and the contribution and significance of each environmental variable to the bacterial community. * indicates that the significance level of the difference is 0.05. ** indicates that the significance level of the difference is 0.01"

Figure 8

Redundancy analysis (RDA) between fungal phylum and selected environmental factors and the contribution and significance of each environmental variable to the bacterial community. * indicates that the significance level of the difference is 0.05. ** indicates that the significance level of the difference is 0.01"

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