Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is an aggressive colonizer of disturbed and other successional habitats in temperate forests. However, little is known about how bracken colonization modifies soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling. We questioned whether bracken presence alters soil nutrient pools and soil microbial respiration throughout a growing season and whether this effect depends on the size

Application of nitrate (NO3−) in flooded soil promotes denitrification activity and N2O emissions, accompanied by NO3− depletion. However, whether the stimulating effect of NO3− on flooded soil still affects the response of nitrifiers and denitrifiers to subsequent water drainage remains unclear, as does the N2O emission dynamics. We conducted a microcosm experiment using intact paddy soil columns

Seasonally dry tropical forests are strongly affected by anthropogenic disturbance and climate changes, which represent the main threats to soil biodiversity, affecting the activity and functional composition of soil communities that provide crucial ecosystem functions and services. However, the effects of these factors and their interactions on soil nematodes, which are bioindicators of soil quality

In agriculture production system, soil enzymes are important indicators of soil quality. Measurements of soil quality parameter changes are essential for assessing the impact of soil and crop management practices. Keeping this in view, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the enzyme activities namely dehydrogenase (DHA), β-glucosidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase (AcP & AlP), fluorescein diacetate

Knowledge on soil aggregation and microbial-driven soil C dynamics at the aggregate scale is beneficial for long-term sequestration of C in greenhouse vegetable production (GVP) systems. Here, we used an eight-year fertilization experiment to compare the effects of organic vs. chemical fertilization on soil aggregate stability, as well as living microbial biomass, microbial necromass, and soil C dynamics

The response pattern of soil bacterial communities to drought events has been characterized from short-term laboratory desiccation and in naturally arid soils, but the resistance of soil bacteria to persistently long periods of desiccation remains largely unknown. This study assessed the abundance and composition of bacteria in 24 historical soils air-dried for more than 70 years, by quantification

Extracellular enzymes in the soil are pivotal to nutrient cycling in the ecosystem. Simulated nitrogen (N) deposition has resulted in positive, negative, and neutral effects of added N on soil extracellular enzyme activity (EEA). A field experiment involving two levels (50 and 150 kg ha−1 yr−1) and three forms (NaNO3, NH4NO3, (NH4)2SO4) of added N was conducted in a northern temperate forest. Over

The wetlands on Earth are under different levels of degradation, and over half of them have even been lost during the 20th century. However, the response of soil insect communities to alpine wetland degradation is unknown, particularly in the Zoigê wetland, which spanning northern Sichuan, southern Gansu and Qinghai Provinces of China. Four habitats, including wet meadows, grassland meadows, moderately

Soil microorganisms play important roles in the rhizosphere in various biological activities in natural and agricultural ecosystems. We performed a two-year field experiment that featured the cultivation of three Bt transgenic oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) plant lines to evaluate their effects on rhizosphere microorganisms using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling. A total of 27 fatty acids

No-till sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) systems is considered as an interesting option to reduce the cost of production and allow the conservation of both soil quality and biological activity. This study was conducted at a sugarcane mill in Goiatuba, in the state of Goiás, Brazil, which grows sugarcane variety SP 813250. An experiment based on a factorial design (2 × 2 × 2) was set up to compare the diversity

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) contribute to the sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) by glomalin production through their hyphal network which helps to bind soil aggregates and improve other physical and biological properties of soil. The current study was aimed to assess (i) AMF biomass, glomalin related protein (GRP), SOC stocks and soil quality parameters such as microbial biomass carbon

Re-vegetation of cropland is an important measure for carbon (C) sequestration, while the combined effects of land-use change, re-vegetation type and time on soil organic C (OC) turnover and temperature sensitivity have been less studied. Here, we investigated soil cumulative OC mineralization (Cmin), specific OC mineralization (Cmin/C0, normalized by initial OC) and temperature sensitivity (Q10) with

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi coexist with most of terrestrial plants and participate in multiple ecosystem processes. Here we address AM fungal responses to experimental warming and a manipulation of precipitation as well as the interactions in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, a hot spot region of climate change, and its associations with plant and soil characteristics. A complete randomized block

Soil fungi play important roles in soil organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling processes and maintaining close associations with aboveground plant communities. However, the large-scale distribution patterns and drivers of soil fungal communities in shrub ecosystems remain largely unknown. In this study, we examined soil fungal communities among different shrub sites, and the relative importance

Ammonia-oxidation is the first rate-limiting step of the nitrification process performed by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). The response of ammonia oxidizers to agricultural management determines the forms of nitrogen available for plant nutrition and the potential for nitrate leaching, nitrous oxide emissions, and soil acidification. We investigated the potential nitrification

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a crucial role in ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we know little about how AMF communities shift in response to key climatic changes. To test whether precipitation is a driving force in shaping AMF community structure, we conducted a 3-year field experiment to investigate the impacts of increased and decreased precipitation on the AMF

Ore mineral extraction involves stripping of topsoils that can lead to eradication of soil biota, including nematodes. Hence, rehabilitation is needed to assist in the recovery of damaged soil ecosystems. In many developing countries, e.g., the Philippines, rehabilitation of soils is mostly carried out through addition of organic amendments and development of aboveground vegetation. Rehabilitation

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) predominantly control ammonia oxidation, the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, and critically affect plant utilization and the fate of reactive nitrogen (N) input to soil. Both AOA and AOB are often sensitive to environmental changes, but their responses to the concurrent climate warming and N input remain poorly understood, particularly

Bentonite is a natural soil amendment that can reduce soil water loss and increase crop yield, but there are few studies about how bentonite influences soil biochemical properties. A field experiment was conducted with a millet [Setaria italic (L.) Beauv.] crop to evaluate the effect of bentonite amendments on soil biochemical properties including soil organic C, total N and total P, and soil microbial

Microbial diversity and their activity in the rhizosphere and bulk soil areas were measured in a long-term field trial (started in 1956), where maize has been grown for the last 20 years with and without N fertilisation. Various microbial groups and their substrate feeding strategies (i.e. demonstrating activities) were identified through phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) analysis and their δ13C values

The herbicides imazethapyr and flumyzin have been recommended for controlling weeds, mainly in soybean fields. However, it is unclear the effect of these herbicides on soil microbial communities. In this study, we assessed the responses of bacterial community to the application of imazethapyr and flumyzin in soil. Soil samples were incubated with the application of the herbicides imazethapyr, flumyzin

Soybean is considered as one of the most important food for both humans and animals; unfortunately, it faces soil-borne diseases caused by bacteria or fungi, leading to severe yield losses. Hybridization has helped the soybean to obtain beneficial genes from wild species that can resist some adverse conditions. However, the influences of hybridization on the rhizosphere microbiomes of wild and cultivated

Precipitation events may rapidly alter soil moisture, and potentially result in a large quantity of soil CO2 release in a short term. However, the effect of pulse precipitation on soil CO2 release among different grassland types on the Tibetan Plateau remains unclear. Here, we investigated soil CO2 release following pulse precipitation in the meadows, grasslands, and deserts of the Tibetan Plateau

Cultivated grassland can serve as one solution to the degradation of natural grassland. However, less is understood of the response of the microbial communities in cultivated grassland soils to global change factors such as nitrogen (N) deposition and precipitation change, and their linkages with the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC). In this study, field experimental plots that simulate different

Root exudates are a labile source of carbon (C) for microorganisms that can lead to increased CO2 emission. Root exudates can vary in C:N stoichiometric ratio and their impact on microbially driven soil organic matter (SOM) turnover in paddy soils still remains unclear. The objective was to explore the underlying mechanisms involved in SOM decomposition due to root exudate (artificial) addition with

Comparative phylogeography is a powerful methodological approach to understand the particular evolutionary phenomena that occur in islands. This method has been rarely applied to insular earthworm communities. These soil animals show a striking dichotomy in their phylogeographic patterns: deeply divergent, regionally structured linages and widely distributed, genetically homogeneous lineages. An intensive

Shrub vegetation and plant species can enhance the abundance and richness of ground-active arthropods. Yet surprisingly little is known about how the distribution and diversity of ground-active arthropods are influenced by plant species used for shrub revegetation in desert ecosystems. In this study, ground-active arthropods were collected using the pitfall trapping method in Caragana korshinskii (CP)

One of the main cucumber (Cucumis sativus) diseases in China is Fusarium wilt caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumerinum (FOC). The aims of this study were to evaluate the suppressive capacity of different spent mushroom substrate (SMS) amendments against Fusarium wilt and to analyse their effects on soil microbiological properties. A greenhouse experiment was carried out with four

In the second half of the twentieth century, many red wood ant populations were transferred from the Alps to the Apennines as biological control agents. Since the introduction involved the relocation of entire nest mounds, it is presumable that the associated fauna was also relocated. While the introduction of these ants has raised several concerns about their ecological impact, there has been no attempt

The aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) producing mould, Aspergillus flavus, is spread to more northern regions with global warming. AFB1 can cause genotoxicity, oxidative stress, immunosuppression, and necrosis in the liver, kidney, and muscles in vertebrates, but the effect on invertebrates is not well known. Folsomia candida (Collembola) is a cosmopolitan species and could be easily bred in the laboratory because

Purpose The objective of this study was (a) to investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and drought stress on Thymus daenensis Celak and Thymus vulgaris L., and (b) to examine the ability of AMF to improve drought stress tolerance in Thymus species. Methods The experiment was conducted as a factorial pattern in a randomized complete design with three replications in 2017. Factors

The biology of soil is critical to its health; the available carbon and nitrogen from plant litter and mineral fertilizers in the soil determines the structure of microbial communities and thus the functioning of soil. We used amino sugars (ASs) and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) as microbial biomarkers to assist in identifying the effect of practices of agricultural management on the microbial community

Plant root-derived labile carbon (C) delivered to soils can regulate the dynamics and turnover of soil organic matter (SOM); however, it remains largely unclear how inputs of individual labile components (e.g., glucose) affect the formation of physicochemical-protected SOM. In a firmly controlled rhizosphere system, we added a glucose solution through artificial roots to soils collected from two subalpine

Soil microbial community compositions and soil labile organic carbon (LOC) fractions change rapidly in response to fertilizers and crop rotation, but our understanding of the associations between specific microbial taxa and C fractions is still limited. The objective of this study was to compare the composition and function of soil bacterial and fungal communities in response to fertilization and crop

Cover crops are an essential element of sustainable agriculture and can affect earthworm populations. In a field trial, we investigated the effects of four cover crop treatments: radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus B.; at high and low seed density), black oat (Avena strigosa Schreb.) and Sudan grass (Sorghum sudanese M.) on earthworms under two irrigation regimes. The two parallel field trials

Solonetz soils are typically characterized with excessive saline-alkali content, and physiochemical methods are often employed for solonetz reclamation. However, increasing lines of evidences have suggested that microbiomes play a pivotal role in sustaining soil fertility than previously appreciated, and it remains poorly understood about the taxonomic identity of microbiomes in solonetz soils and

Unique soil properties in rhizosphere can affect plant growth and biogeochemical cycles of ecosystems. While rhizosphere has been widely investigated, little is known about differences in the rhizosphere effect (RE) between co-existing overstory trees and understory shrubs and herbs in forest ecosystems. In this study, we investigated REs on soil chemical properties of overstory trees and understory

Soil biological properties are essential for sustainable agriculture development. A five-year field experiment was conducted to understand the effects of mineral fertilizers combined with straw returning on bacterial community composition and enzyme activities in paddy soil. Treatments included three fertilizer rates of unfertilized (F0), half and full of conventional mineral fertilization (F1: 138

Fungi are critical for carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics in forest soils, but much less is known about their activity in grassland soils. Here we examined how fungal activity affected C and N cycling in a grassland soil with and without litter and N addition. Soil from a semi-natural grassland was amended with and without a fungicide (cycloheximide) to manipulate fungal activity, with and without

Despite the ecological function of earthworms being of undeniable importance, little is known about their population genetic diversity, dispersal, and gene flow patterns. Here, we applied 769,957 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) gathered by restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to unearth the genetic variability of populations of the earthworm Amynthas_YN2017 sp. collected from

Treating soil with a combination of nitrogen (N) and biochar (BC) has often been suggested as an approach to enhancing soil quality. In the present study, we therefore conducted a two -year randomized two-factorial field experiment in order to explore optimal N fertilizer management strategies in the context of BC application to calcareous soil, with a focus on both microbial activities and soil nutrient

Burning is the most common practice for rice straw disposal. Due to associated negative environmental and climatic effects, development of viable alternatives, preferably based on the natural functions of soil biota are needed. In the conditions of non-tropical rice-growing systems, where periods of flooding are very short, such an approach seems to be particularly promising. We carried out a mesocosm

Regular flooding during rice cultivation adversely affects soil animals in agroecosystems and may disrupt ecological functions that they deliver. Alternation of upland crops and flooded rice potentially has a positive effect on soil fauna. However, this aspect has not yet been studied outside the tropics. We focused on the influence of interannual crop rotation accompanied by long periods of paddy

The effects of cover crops and fertilization on the soil properties of apple orchards have been studied widely, but our knowledge of the variations in the soil enzyme activity and stoichiometry remains limited, particularly the tree-scale spatial responses. In this study, field experiments were conducted in two main plots comprising cover crop (CC) and no cover crop (NC) treatments with four sub-plots

Fertilization is a necessary practice for paddy fields to achieve high crop yields, and this practice could have an important impact on soil nitrogen cycle. Anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) is an important process in the nitrogen cycle of paddy ecosystems. However, until now, the influence of nitrogen fertilization on anammox, is not well understood. Here, the vertical distribution of the activity

The intensification of agriculture to meet the ever-increasing demand for food has exerted a negative impact on the ecosystem. Conservation agriculture has been highlighted as a comprehensive approach to sustainability. The present study aimed to assess the performance of conservation agriculture (CA) on plant growth, and its impact on bacterial community composition, specifically guilds involved in

Extracellular enzyme activities (EEA) in soils play a pivotal role in ecosystem processes, such as organic carbon (C) decomposition or nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) mineralization. Thus, EEA measurements can provide insights into the rates of ecosystem-level processes in peatlands, which will experience more frequent extreme droughts in the future. In the present study, the activities of seven hydrolases

Community composition and activity of soil microbes are responsive to changes in physiochemical and biological attributes during forest succession. However, whether soil microbial community structure and activity in soil particle-size fractions under different restoration approaches (regeneration through secondary succession and afforestation) during a chronosequence ranging from 20 to 70 years following