Crop rotation phase has a greater impact on soil biology than crop rotation diversity

Abstract

The effect of plant diversity on the belowground soil food web remains poorly understood. In this study the soil microbial community structure and biomass, and the abundance of microfauna, mesofauna, and macrofauna were assessed at three levels of crop rotation diversity: A Simple rotation (2 plant species), a Moderate rotation (4 plant species), and a Diverse rotation (10 plant species). Soils subjected to more diverse crop rotations did not differ in their microbial community structure, were lower in soil total C, and exhibited a smaller microbial biomass, but a higher crop yield. The mean abundance of Collembola and mites exhibited a trend of Simple > Moderate > Diverse. These observations may be associated with higher levels of disturbance in soils of more diverse rotations due to more frequent tillage operations to establish a greater diversity of crops. The lack of a significant positive effect of crop rotation diversity on soil biology was observed despite the field experiment being established three to four years prior to these measurements. We did observe effects due to the phase of the crop rotation. Within the Simple rotation, we found a significant effect of crop rotation phase on collembolan and mite abundances, and within the Diverse rotation on earthworm biomass. These observations suggest that the crop rotation phase, and perhaps the identity of the individual plants used in a crop rotation, affect soil biology more than the diversity of the crop rotation per se.