Abstract
Soil microorganisms play key roles in the biogeochemical cycling of soil carbon and are sensitive to changes in the soil microclimate. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of snow cover and straw mulching on microbial communities in paddy soils during winter, and four treatments were established: (i) snow removal with no straw mulching (Sn-SM-), (ii) snow cover with no straw mulching (SC), (iii) snow removal with straw mulching (SM), and (iv) snow cover with straw mulching (SC+SM+). The SC, SM, and, especially, SC+SM+ groups had more bacterial, gram-positive (G+) bacterial, gram-negative (G-) bacterial, fungal, and total phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) than the Sn-SM- group from the freezing stage to the hard frost stage. The ratio of fungal/bacterial PLFAs first decreased, with the highest value in the SC+SM+ treatment, from the freezing to the hard frost stages and increased during the thawing stage, while the ratio of G+/G- PLFAs showed the opposite trend. The Sn-SM- treatment resulted in a rapid increase in microorganisms during the thawing stage. Our results demonstrated that the SC, SM, and, especially, SC+SM+ treatments reduced the losses of microbial biomass from the unfrozen stage to the hard frost stage and prevented an increase in microbial activity during the thawing stage in a paddy system.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have