Alfalfa Cover Crops Influence the Soil Fungal Community and Function in Apple Orchards in Arid Desert Oases in Northwest China

Zhenlei Wang, Weiliang Zhao and Linqiao Xi ()
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Zhenlei Wang: The National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of High Efficiency and Superior-Quality Cultivation and Fruit Deep Processing Technology on Characteristic Fruit Trees, College of Plant Science, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Weiliang Zhao: The National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of High Efficiency and Superior-Quality Cultivation and Fruit Deep Processing Technology on Characteristic Fruit Trees, College of Plant Science, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China
Linqiao Xi: College of Animal Science, Tarim University, Alar 843300, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: The present study investigated the effects of alfalfa cover crops on soil fungal communities and function in apple orchards in arid desert oases. A five-year apple orchard was subjected to two treatments: Intercropping with an alfalfa cover crop (A) and clean tillage (QG). The soil fungal ITS (internal transcribed spacer) region was analyzed using Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology, and fungal function was determined using FUNGuild. Changes in the fungal community structure, diversity, and metabolic function in the 0–60 cm soil layer of the apple orchard were compared. The results showed that the alfalfa cover crops enhanced fungal richness but reduced diversity. The alfalfa cover crops improved fungal copy numbers but reduced the relative abundance of the dominant phylum, Ascomycota. Correlations between soil fungi and soil factors revealed that total nitrogen and total carbon were the most important nutrient factors in positively regulating the fungal community. The main negative factors were soil total salts and pH. The FUNGuild functional prediction showed that Ectomycorrhizal-Wood Saprotroph and Endophyte-Undefined Saprotroph only appeared in the alfalfa cover crops. The abundance of endophytes was enhanced ( p < 0.05), but the abundance of plant pathogens and wood saprotrophs decreased ( p < 0.01). Alfalfa cover crops could increase the copy numbers and richness in arid oasis apple orchards.

Keywords: alfalfa cover crop; fungi; apple orchards; arid desert oasis; community and function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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