Soil fertility status controls the decomposition of litter mixture residues

Abstract

AbstractIncreasing agroecosystem biodiversity with cover crops can restore many ecosystem functions that are lost with simplified crop rotations. Mixtures of species with complementary plant traits, such as legumes and grasses, may increase multiple functions at once, including soil nutrient supply and retention, which depend on microbial decomposition dynamics. Litter mixtures can stimulate decomposition compared to individual species, and decomposition also varies with soil properties. However, the interactive effect of cover crop functional type and soil fertility status on decomposition are not known. Here, we tested for mixture effects with a legume–grass litter in soils with lower and higher levels of fertility. We also identified specific soil properties that are associated with those effects. We incubated hairy vetch, cereal rye, and vetch‐rye litter treatments for 360 d in two soils from fields with contrasting management histories and fertility levels, as defined by biological indicators such as particulate organic matter (POM) pools. We measured decomposition dynamics through respired CO2, microbial biomass, microbial extracellular enzyme activity, and inorganic nitrogen (N) mineralization. With no litter addition, the soil with larger POM pools had twofold greater microbial biomass C, seven times more net N mineralization, and respired 58% more CO2. Across both soils, after 30 d microbial biomass C increased by 58–208% following litter addition, and litter addition significantly increased CO2 production compared to the no‐litter control. However, there was no difference in the magnitude of CO2 production among cover crop treatments and soils after litter addition. The lower fertility soil had a greater response to the litter C input for CO2 production and enzyme activities in soil. Furthermore, the size and N content of free and intra‐aggregate POM pools were associated with differences in the microbial response to litter addition. Our results demonstrate that cover crop litter affects microbial decomposition dynamics differently in soils with distinct soil fertility levels and suggests that new C inputs have larger effects in lower fertility soils. Understanding how soils with different fertility levels respond to diverse cover crops, including mixtures, will inform management of agroecosystems for sustainability.