The Response of Soil Nutrients and Microbial Community Structures in Long-Term Tea Plantations and Diverse Agroforestry Intercropping Systems

Guolin Zhang, Xingbiao Chu, Hanyang Zhu, Dongsheng Zou, Longcheng Li and Linsen Du
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Guolin Zhang: College of Architecture and Landscape, Peking University, Beijing 100080, China
Xingbiao Chu: College of Arts, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Hanyang Zhu: Hunan International Intellectual Exchange and Cooperation Center, Changsha 410013, China
Dongsheng Zou: College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Longcheng Li: Beijing Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Organic Farming, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Linsen Du: College of Resources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: During tea cultivation, diverse agroforestry is an important and established intercropping measure, with most studies concentrating on ecological service provision and economic returns. However, the response of soil nutrients and microbial community structures in long-term tea plantations with diverse agroforestry intercropping systems is poorly understood. In the present field study (2015), three intercropping agroforestry-tea patterns (Osmanthus-Tea (OT), Michelia-Tea (MT), Osmanthus-Michelia-Tea (OMT)) along with a study control (C) were examined in terms of these two knowledge gaps. Results showed that, in terms of tea cultivation, the OMT system is more suitable than the OT and MT systems. The OMT system significantly increased the total nitrogen (TN, 16.4%), total potassium (TK, 10.5%), available nitrogen (AN, 14.2%), available phosphorus (AP, 26.7%) and soil organic matter (SOM, 28.9%). The OMT system increased phylum Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes abundance by 35.8% and 9.6%. In addition, the OMT system enhanced the abundance of class Bacteroidia (99.5%), Erysipelotrichia (96.9%), Clostridia (93.5%) and Actinobacteria (19.6%), respectively. In general, the phylum bacteria Proteobacteria , Firmicutes , Actinobacteria accounted for the largest proportion of bacteria in all three intercropping systems. In this study, the abundance of Firmicutes , Actinobacteria , Proteobacteria , and Bacteroidetes were positively correlated with AN, SOM and TP. The results of the present study will help to develop a better understanding of the benefits imposed by different agroforestry intercropping systems on nutrient dynamics and microbial structural diversity during tea cultivation.

Keywords: Camellia sinensis; intercropping system; microbial diversity; soil nutrients (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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