Responses of Soil Microbial and Nematode Communities to Various Cover Crop Patterns in a Tea Garden of China

Lili Wang, Yang Wang, Weiming Xiu, Bingchang Tan, Gang Li, Jianning Zhao, Dianlin Yang, Guilong Zhang and Yanjun Zhang
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Lili Wang: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Yang Wang: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Weiming Xiu: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Bingchang Tan: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Gang Li: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Jianning Zhao: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Dianlin Yang: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Guilong Zhang: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China
Yanjun Zhang: Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: As one of the typical farmland ecosystems, tea gardens are of vital importance in China. The purpose of this study was to quantify the dynamic of soil properties, soil microbial diversity, and nematodes, as affected by various cover crop patterns in a Tanjiawan tea garden in Hubei Province, China. Four cover crop patterns were established as following: naturally covered of bare land and mixed planting with two species, four species, and eight species. The results revealed that soil organic matter, pH, and total phosphorous content were significantly related to cover crop patterns. The number of nematodes increased with cover crop diversity, and the percentage of plant parasitic nematodes in cover crop treatments was lower than in naturally covered bare land. A higher diversity of cover crops increased the number of bacterivores and fungivores, thereby enhancing the bacterial decomposition pathway of soil organic matter. Both soil nematodes and microbial communities showed significant seasonal changes under different cover crop patterns. The soil food webs were more stable and mature under cover crops with two species and four species. Combined with the results of a structural equation model, we found that soil properties, characterized by the total nitrogen, available phosphorus, NO 3 - -N, and soil organic matter, were significantly correlated with soil nematodes and microbial communities. In addition, acterivores and plant parasites were significantly negatively correlated with omnivores/predators. Our results implied that soil properties and seasonal changes influence the relationships between cover crops, soil nematodes, and microbial communities. These findings provide a theoretical basis for future studies on interactions between soil properties, soil microorganisms, and nematodes in tea gardens.

Keywords: cover crops; microorganisms; nematodes; soil food web; tea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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