Abstract
Continuous cropping changes soil physiochemical parameters, enzymes and microorganism communities, causing “replant problem” in strawberry cultivation. We hypothesized that soil nematode community would reflect the changes in soil conditions caused by long-term continuous cropping, in ways that are consistent and predictable. To test this hypothesis, we studied the soil nematode communities and several soil parameters, including the concentration of soil phenolic acids, organic matter and nitrogen levels, in strawberry greenhouse under continuous-cropping for five different durations. Soil pH significantly decreased, and four phenolic acids, i.e., p-hydroxybenzoic acid, ferulic acid, cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid, accumulated with time under continuous cropping. The four phenolic acids were highly toxic to Acrobeloides spp., the eudominant genus in non-continuous cropping, causing it to reduce to a resident genus after seven-years of continuous cropping. Decreased nematode diversity indicated loss of ecosystem stability and sustainability because of continuous-cropping practice. Moreover, the dominant decomposition pathway was altered from bacterial to fungal under continuous cropping. Our results suggest that along with the continuous-cropping time in strawberry habitat, the soil food web is disturbed, and the available plant nutrition as well as the general health of the soil deteriorates; these changes can be indicated by soil nematode community.
Highlights
Autotoxicity, a special form of allelopathy which is caused by phytotoxic allelochemical substances released by preceding plants of the same species, plays a significant role in replant problem[18,19]
The total nitrogen concentration increased with continuous cropping years (Fig. 1c); the microbial biomass nitrogen did not show a similar increase
As the years of continuous-cropping increased, soil pH significantly decreased both because of accumulated phenolic acids and nitrogen inputs that exceeded what could be processed by soil microorganisms
Summary
Autotoxicity, a special form of allelopathy which is caused by phytotoxic allelochemical substances released by preceding plants of the same species, plays a significant role in replant problem[18,19]. As the most abundant groups of soil fauna, the soil nematode community includes genera at most trophic levels, and plays critical roles in controlling organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling; affecting the availability of plant nutrients[26,27]. Faunal analysis of nematode community structure can provide assessments of the structure, function, and probably the resilience of the soil ecosystem[29,39], they have not been employed to monitor the changes that take place in soil that undergoes continuously cropped strawberry. We studied the variation and common patterns in soil nematode communities and several parameters of soil, including the concentration of soil phenolic acids, organic matter and nitrogen levels, in five strawberry greenhouse sites under continuous-cropping for different durations. (i) Wh at are the dominant nematode taxa in soil under continuous cropping of strawberry and do the dominant taxa change with time?
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