Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on soil microbial community structure and ecological processes in the farmland of Chinese Loess Plateau

doi:10.1007/s40333-023-0023-6

Journal of Arid Land

2023, Vol. 15

Issue (8): 960-974 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-023-0023-6

Research article

Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on soil microbial community structure and ecological processes in the farmland of Chinese Loess Plateau

KOU Zhaoyang¹, LI Chunyue¹^,^*(

), CHANG Shun¹, MIAO Yu¹, ZHANG Wenting¹, LI Qianxue¹, DANG Tinghui², WANG Yi³

¹School of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, China
²Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
³State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an 710061, China

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Abstract

Microorganisms regulate the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to anthropogenic nutrient inputs. The escalation of anthropogenic activities has resulted in a rise in the primary terrestrial constraining elements, namely nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Nevertheless, the specific mechanisms governing the influence of soil microbial community structure and ecological processes in ecologically vulnerable and delicate semi-arid loess agroecosystems remain inadequately understood. Therefore, we explored the effects of different N and P additions on soil microbial community structure and its associated ecological processes in the farmland of Chinese Loess Plateau based on a 36-a long-term experiment. Nine fertilization treatments with complete interactions of high, medium, and low N and P gradients were set up. Soil physical and chemical properties, along with the microbial community structure were measured in this study. Additionally, relevant ecological processes such as microbial biomass, respiration, N mineralization, and enzyme activity were quantified. To elucidate the relationships between these variables, we examined correlation-mediated processes using statistical techniques, including redundancy analysis (RDA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that the addition of N alone had a detrimental effect on soil microbial biomass, mineralized N accumulation, and β-1,4-glucosidase activity. Conversely, the addition of P exhibited an opposing effect, leading to positive influences on these soil parameters. The interactive addition of N and P significantly changed the microbial community structure, increasing microbial activity (microbial biomass and soil respiration), but decreasing the accumulation of mineralized N. Among them, N₂₄P₁₂ treatment showed the greatest increase in the soil nutrient content and respiration. N₁₂P₁₂ treatment increased the overall enzyme activity and total phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) content by 70.93%. N and P nutrient contents of the soil dominate the microbial community structure and the corresponding changes in hydrolytic enzymes. Soil microbial biomass, respiration, and overall enzyme activity are driven by mineralized N. Our study provides a theoretical basis for exploring energy conversion processes of soil microbial community and environmental sustainability under long-term N and P additions in semi-arid loess areas.

Key words： nitrogen and phosphorus additions microbial community structure farmland ecosystem nitrogen mineralization soil enzyme activity

Received: 30 March 2023 Published: 31 August 2023

Corresponding Authors: * LI Chunyue (E-mail: chunyue_li@snnu.edu.cn)

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	KOU Zhaoyang
	LI Chunyue
	CHANG Shun
	MIAO Yu
	ZHANG Wenting
	LI Qianxue
	DANG Tinghui
	WANG Yi

Cite this article:

KOU Zhaoyang, LI Chunyue, CHANG Shun, MIAO Yu, ZHANG Wenting, LI Qianxue, DANG Tinghui, WANG Yi. Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on soil microbial community structure and ecological processes in the farmland of Chinese Loess Plateau. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(8): 960-974.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-023-0023-6 OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2023/V15/I8/960

Table 1 Soil physical-chemical properties under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions

Table 2 Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) content under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions

Fig. 1 Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC; a) and nitrogen (MBN; b) contents under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions. Different lowercase letters among different treatments indicate significant differences at P<0.05 level. Bars are standard errors.

Fig. 2 Soil respiration rate (a), microbial respiration entropy (b), and nitrogen mineralization (c) under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions. Different lowercase letters among different treatments indicate significant differences at P<0.05 level. Bars are standard errors.

Fig. 3 Activities of BG (β-1,4-glucosidase, a), NAG (β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, b), AKP (alkaline phosphatase, c), POD (peroxidase, d), and PPO (polyphenol oxidase, e) under different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions. Different lowercase letters among different treatments indicate significant differences at P<0.05 level. Bars are standard errors.

Fig. 4 Redundancy analysis (RDA) of microbial community structure (a) and enzyme activity (b) with soil physical-chemical properties. Red arrows represent soil property variables, and black arrows denote soil microbial taxa (a) and activities of five enzymes (b). TN, total nitrogen; TP, total phosphorus; AP, available phosphorous; SOM, soil organic matter; SMC, soil moisture content; GP, gram-positive bacteria; GN, gram-negative bacteria; GP:GN, gram-positive bacteria:gram-negative bacteria ratio; F:B, fungal:bacterial ratio; BG, β-1,4-glucosidase; POD, peroxidase; AKP, alkaline phosphatase; PPO, polyphenol oxidase; NAG, β-N-acetylglucosaminidas.

Fig. 5 Principal component analysis (PCA) of microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA; a) and soil enzyme activities (b). PC, principal component.

Fig. 6 Structural equation model (SEM) of the effect of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions on microbial community structure. Soil microbial community structure in the model was scored by PC1 (principal component). The final model had good fit to the data, with model χ²=5.566, df=6, P=0.474, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.000 and comparative fit index (CFI)=1.000. Blue and red arrows indicate positive and negative relationships, width of the arrow is proportional to the positive and negative relationships, and value on the arrow indicates the normalized path coefficient. Asterisks following the values indicate statistical significance of paths, *, P<0.05 level, **, P<0.01 level, ***, P<0.001 level.

Fig. 7 Structural equation model (SEM) of the effects of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions on soil ecological processes. Soil enzyme activities in the model were scored by PC1 (principal component). The final model resulted in good fit to the data, with model χ²=3.254, df=6, P=0.776, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.000 and comparative fit index (CFI)=1.000. Blue and red arrows indicate positive and negative relationships, respectively. Width of the arrow is proportional to the positive and negative relationships, and value on the arrow indicates the normalized path coefficient. Asterisks following the values indicate statistical significance of paths. *, P<0.05 level, **, P<0.01 level, ***, P<0.001 level.


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