Impacts of continuous excessive fertilization on soil potential nitrification activity and nitrifying microbial community dynamics in greenhouse system

Abstract

Sampling and analysis of greenhouse soils were conducted in Shouguang, China, to study continuous excessive fertilization effect on nitrifying microbial community dynamics in greenhouse environment. Potential nitrification activity (PNA), abundance, and structure of nitrifying microbial communities as well as the correlations with soil properties were investigated. Short-term excessive fertilization increased soil nutrient contents and the diversity of nitrifying microbial communities under greenhouse cultivation. However, the abundance and diversity of nitrifying communities decreased greatly due to the increase of soil acidity and salinity after 14 years of high fertilization in greenhouse. There was a significant positive correlation between soil PNA and the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) but not that of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) in topsoil (0–20 cm) when pH ≥7. Soil PNA and AOB were strongly influenced by soil pH. The groups of Nitrososphaeraceae, Nitrosomonadaceae, and Nitrospiraceae were predominant in the AOA, AOB, and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) communities, respectively. Nitrifying community structure was significantly correlated with soil electrical salinity (EC), organic carbon (OC), and nitrate nitrogen (NO3 −–N) content by redundancy analysis (RDA). Nitrification was predominated by AOB in greenhouse topsoil with high fertilizer loads. Soil salinity, OC, NO3 −–N content, and pH affected by continuous excessive fertilization were the major edaphic factors in shaping nitrifying community structure in greenhouse soils.