Shengzhican Li, Kanzhuo Zan, Yitong Chen, Kezhen Wang, Yang Qu, Mingxiu Long, Shubin He
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aims
Fall dormancy (FD) in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a physiological adjustment strategy that affects forage yield, winter survival rates and spring regrowth. This study aimed to determine whether FD could drive alfalfa–soil interactions by modulating soil nutrient dynamics and the microbial community structure.
Methods
We assessed the root traits, soil properties, and microbial communities (bacteria/fungi) of alfalfa cultivars representing dormant (D), semi-dormant (SD), and non-dormant (ND) FD types during both growing and dormant seasons in semi-arid northwestern China.
Results
Our results indicated that total nitrogen (TN), soil organic carbon (SOC), and total phosphorus (TP) content increased with FD level during dormancy, whereas TN, sucrase activity, and protease activity generally decreased during the growing season. Furthermore, both the bacterial and fungal diversity indices were lower in the dormant season than in the growing season. Microbial co-occurrence networks revealed that the proportion of positive bacterial-fungal correlations increased with increasing FD level in the dormant season, while negative correlations decreased. During the dormant season, FD exerted highly significant positive effects on soil nutrients, enzymes, and root nutrition but significantly reduced alfalfa biomass and microbial biomass. Conversely, FD positively influenced root nutrients and microbial biomass during the growing season.
Conclusions
Our results highlight the importance of FD-driven rhizosphere effects on nutrient cycling and soil microbial communities, particularly during dormancy. This study provides valuable information for understanding complex FD-driven plant–soil interactions in alfalfa cultivation systems.
期刊介绍：
Plant and Soil publishes original papers and review articles exploring the interface of plant biology and soil sciences, and that enhance our mechanistic understanding of plant-soil interactions. We focus on the interface of plant biology and soil sciences, and seek those manuscripts with a strong mechanistic component which develop and test hypotheses aimed at understanding underlying mechanisms of plant-soil interactions. Manuscripts can include both fundamental and applied aspects of mineral nutrition, plant water relations, symbiotic and pathogenic plant-microbe interactions, root anatomy and morphology, soil biology, ecology, agrochemistry and agrophysics, as long as they are hypothesis-driven and enhance our mechanistic understanding. Articles including a major molecular or modelling component also fall within the scope of the journal. All contributions appear in the English language, with consistent spelling, using either American or British English.
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