Abstract
The effects of agricultural practices upon soil microbiota were assessed in case of a long-term (42 years) tillage and fertilization experiment run on Chernozem soil under maize monoculture, as well as by comparing the experimental field with a grassland located nearby. We measured overall microbial biomass carbon (Cmic) as an indicator for total community size and ergosterol as a proxy for saprotrophic fungal biomass. We interpreted ergosterol: Cmic ratio as an indicator for community structure. Our findings showed that no till is characterized by a significantly increase in Cmic compared to chisel and mouldboard plough (+31% and + 16%, respectively). We further found that Cmic of the grassland was more than double the microbial biomass of experimental plots. Ergosterol concentration manifested the same tendency as overall microbial biomass across tillage treatments, however the impact was statistically significant only between zero tillage and chisel plough (+51%). Although ergosterol to Cmic ratio was higher in case of no till (+6% and + 17% compared to conventional tillage and chisel plough, respectively), the impact was not statistically significant. Similarly, moderate nitrogen fertilization (60 kg/ha) induced no significant effect whatsoever, a consequence that is attributed to the rather low dose applied.
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