Agricultural land consolidation impacted edaphic microbial community dynamics and assembly in China - a case study from Zhejiang Province

Abstract

Agricultural land consolidation has been implemented to address land fragmentation problems in many countries. Land consolidation has substantial impacts on agroecosystems. However, studies of its effects on soil microbial communities are currently insufficient. We have designed this study to determine the effects of land consolidation on microbiota by comparing farmlands that had undergone land consolidation with nonconsolidated farmlands within one county in southeastern China. Land consolidation promoted bacterial alpha diversity and migration. Fungal communities were more stable than bacterial communities. The beta diversity analysis showed that bacteria and fungi were both significantly impacted by land consolidation. Some bacterial and fungal genera were analysed to evaluate the soil ecosystem functions. The abundances of the bacterial genera Catenulispora, Symbiobacterium, Pelotomaculum, and Cytophaga and of the fungal genera Microscypha, Phialocephala, and Hypholoma were significantly higher under land consolidation than without land consolidation. The results of microbial community analysis and functional prediction indicated that land consolidation significantly improved hydrocarbon degradation. Land consolidation may also promote the abundance of genera associated with nitrogen through the implementation of reasonable management practices. In summary, land consolidation can result in better agricultural management and unified planting pattern that promote bacterial diversity and decrease spatial heterogeneity, because of the supervision system.