Soil microbial community and carbon and nitrogen fractions responses to mulching under winter wheat

Abstract

Mulching enhances soil C and N fractions compared to no mulching, but its impact on soil microbial communities and their relations to C and N fractions with mulching are not clear. We studied the 9-yr effect of no mulching (CK), straw mulching (SM), and plastic film mulching (PM) on soil bacterial and fungal community structure and their relationships to soil C and N fractions under dryland winter wheat in the Loess Plateau of China. The SM did not affect bacterial diversity and richness, but enhanced fungal diversity and richness compared to CK in subsoil layers. The PM also increased fungal diversity and richness, but reduced bacterial diversity and richness compared to SM and CK. Compared to CK, the relative abundance of Actinobacteria was lower with SM at 0–10 cm, but the abundances of Nitrospirae, Firmicutes, WS3, and Zygomycota were greater with PM at most soil depths. Bacterial diversity correlated with soil C and N fractions, and fungal richness with potential N mineralization and microbial biomass C and N. Although plastic film mulching enhanced fungal diversity and richness compared to no mulching, straw mulching was more effective in maintaining soil microbial diversity and richness and enhancing soil C and N fractions under dryland winter wheat.