Diversified Cover Crops and No-Till Enhanced Soil Total Nitrogen and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Diversity: A Case Study from the Karst Area of Southwest China

Lihua Tian, Tao Wang, Song Cui, Yuan Li, Weiyang Gui, Feng Yang, Jihui Chen, Rui Dong, Xinyao Gu, Xuechun Zhao, Mingjun Zhang, Chao Chen and Zhou Li ()
Additional contact information
Lihua Tian: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Tao Wang: Rapeseed Research Institute, Guizhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guiyang 550008, China
Song Cui: School of Agriculture, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Yuan Li: Grasslands and Sustainable Farming, Production Systems Unit, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Halolantie 31A, FI−71750 Kuopio, Finland
Weiyang Gui: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Feng Yang: Guizhou Grassland Technology Experiment and Extension Station, Guiyang 550025, China
Jihui Chen: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Rui Dong: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Xinyao Gu: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Xuechun Zhao: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Mingjun Zhang: Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Management Station of Guizhou Province, Guiyang 550025, China
Chao Chen: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Zhou Li: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in the Plateau Mountainous Region, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: The deteriorating soil health under continuous monoculture is commonly found across various cropping systems. This study evaluated the effects of different tillage practices (conventional tillage and no till) and species mixtures (legumes and grasses) on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) community properties, soil nutrients, and enzyme activity in a 3-year experiment. Compared with traditional tillage, the number of AMF species under no-till conditions was increased, with the Glomus group being dominant. Under different tillage conditions, TN (total N) and AN (available N) contents under no till were significantly higher than those under conventional tillage, while no significant differences among other nutrients were found. The activities of soil acid phosphatase (S-ACP), soil dehydrogenase (S-DHA), and soil sucrose (S-SC) under conventional tillage were significantly higher than those under no till, and the cover crop mixtures also had an exclusive advantage in yield. Soil organic matter (SOM) indicated a significant negative correlation with glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP). The increase in diversity associated with the AMF species community was strongly correlated with the increase in three enzyme activities, and AN was negatively correlated with all species. Tillage did not significantly change soil chemistry, except for AN, and the high concentration of AN led to a decrease in AMF species. The results of this study showed that no till was an effective measure for enriching soil micro-organism population. Additionally, soil AMF diversity was improved by cover crop mixtures, and microbial diversity was higher than that under monoculture cover crops. Different AMF groups responded differently to tillage and cover crop mixtures. Across all mixtures, the combination of hairy vetch ( Vicia villosa R.) and ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.) performed the best.

Keywords: conservation tillage; yield; arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi; soil nutrient; cover crop (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1103/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/7/1103/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:7:p:1103-:d:1431604

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().