The Effect of Long-Term Organic Amendments on Soil Organic Carbon Accumulation via Regulating Microbial Traits in a Paddy Soil

Jing Ye, Zhaoming Chen, Jinchuan Ma, Junwei Ma, Ping Zou, Wanchun Sun, Feng Wang, Qiaogang Yu and Qiang Wang ()
Additional contact information
Jing Ye: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Zhaoming Chen: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Jinchuan Ma: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Junwei Ma: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Ping Zou: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Wanchun Sun: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Feng Wang: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Qiaogang Yu: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China
Qiang Wang: State Key Laboratory for Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiomics, Institute of Environment, Resource, Soil and Fertilizers, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Understanding how organic amendments affect microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) and necromass C (MNC) is crucial for understanding soil organic C (SOC) formation and accrual in paddy fields, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In this study, the microbial CUE, MNC, and microbial community composition, as well as SOC fractions and chemical composition, were measured under long-term organic amendments: rice straw (RS), green manure (GM), and pig manure (PM) in paddy soils. Four treatments were included: (1) chemical fertilizers (CF); (2) CF plus RS (CF + RS); (2) CF plus GM (CF + GM); and (4) CF plus PM (CF + PM). The CUE, MNC, and microbial community were determined by 18 O-H 2 O incubation, amino sugars levels, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) content, respectively. Results showed that SOC, particulate organic C (POC), and mineral-associated organic C (MAOC) concentrations were significantly increased by organic amendments compared with chemical fertilization alone. The O-alkyl C decreased, but aromatic C increased with long-term organic amendments, suggesting enhanced SOC hydrophobicity. GM and PM inputs significantly enhanced microbial CUE, but straw return did not affect microbial CUE compared to CF. Microbial growth and C uptake increased by 25.2–42.4% and 19.8–30.0% under organic amendments relative with CF. Microbial respiration was increased by RS and GM amendments. Turnover time was more rapid in CF + RS and CF + GM than in CF and CF + PM. Compared to CF, organic amendments increased the MNC concentration due to the increase in microbial biomass. In addition, CF + RS and CF + GM enhanced the MNC contribution to SOC, but PM had no effect, suggesting that PM contributed more organic C from non-microbial sources. The SOC, POC, and MAOC increased with microbial CUE and MNC, indicating that microbial traits play a crucial role in SOC accrual. Higher microbial CUE and biomass explained the increased MNC accumulation under organic amendments. Our study highlights the crucial role of microbe-mediated processes in SOC accrual under long-term organic amendments in paddy soils. Our findings show that organic amendments are an effective management practice for accumulating more SOC in paddy soils.

Keywords: soil organic carbon fractions; organic fertilization; microbial carbon use efficiency; microbial necromass; paddy fields (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: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/21/2308/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/21/2308/ (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:15:y:2025:i:21:p:2308-:d:1788527

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 ().