Abiotic and Biotic Drivers of Soil Fungal Communities in Response to Dairy Manure Amendment.

Abstract

Modern agriculture often relies on large inputs of synthetic fertilizers to maximize crop yield potential, yet their intensive use has led to nutrient losses and impaired soil health. Alternatively, manure amendments provide plant available nutrients, build organic carbon, and enhance soil health. However, we lack a clear understanding of how consistently manure impacts fungal communities, the mechanisms via which manure impacts soil fungi, and the fate of manure-borne fungi in soils. We assembled soil microcosms using five soils to investigate how manure amendments impact fungal communities over a 60-day incubation. Further, we used autoclaving treatments of soils and manure to determine if observed changes in soil fungal communities were due to abiotic or biotic properties, and if indigenous soil communities constrained colonization of manure-borne fungi. We found that manure amended soil fungal communities diverged from nonamended communities over time, often in concert with a reduction in diversity. Fungal communities responded to live and autoclaved manure in a similar manner, suggesting that abiotic forces are primarily responsible for the observed dynamics. Finally, manure-borne fungi declined quickly in both live and autoclaved soil, indicating that the soil environment is unsuitable for their survival. IMPORTANCE Manure amendments in agricultural systems can impact soil microbial communities via supplying growth substrates for indigenous microbes or by introducing manure-borne taxa. This study explores the consistency of these impacts on soil fungal communities and the relative importance of abiotic and biotic drivers across distinct soils. Different fungal taxa responded to manure among distinct soils, and shifts in soil fungal communities were driven largely by abiotic factors, rather than introduced microbes. This work demonstrates that manure may have inconsistent impacts on indigenous soil fungi, and that abiotic properties of soils render them largely resistant to invasion by manure-borne fungi.