1. Influences of irrigation amount on the rhizospheric microorganism composition and carbon dioxide flux of maize crops
- Author
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Xiaoxiang Zhao, Shan He, Denghua Yan, Li Xiangnan, Tianling Qin, Bai Heng, Baisha Weng, Yujie Bai, and Jun Ma
- Subjects
Rhizosphere ,Irrigation ,Microorganism ,Soil Science ,04 agricultural and veterinary sciences ,010501 environmental sciences ,Biology ,01 natural sciences ,Crop ,Agronomy ,040103 agronomy & agriculture ,0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries ,Species evenness ,Species richness ,Cycling ,Water content ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Soil relative water concentration is one of the most important influences on crop growth and the diversity and composition of microorganisms in the crop rhizosphere. This study investigates the influences of soil relative water concentration on CO2 flux and rhizospheric microbial diversity in maize crops. Plots of maize were given different irrigation treatments; namely, control (natural precipitation) and low, medium, and high sprinkling irrigation quotas (achieving soil relative water contents of 55.0–65.0%, 65.0–75.0%, and 75.0–85.0%, respectively). Compared with controls, CO2 uptake increased with soil relative water concentration, mainly during the tasseling, pustulation, and mature growth stages. In addition, the richness and evenness of the bacterial and archaeal communities in the soil matrix increased with soil relative water concentration. However, the diversity of fungal communities had an inverse trend compared with that of bacterial and archaeal communities, which resulted from dry-wet cycling promoted the diversity of fungal diversity. The relative abundances of most dominant bacteria and fungi increased with soil relative water content and maize growth. These results demonstrate that modest water supplementation, especially during maize's tasseling, postulation, and mature stages, enhances its growth and increases the relative abundances of bacterial and fungal communities in the soil.
- Published
- 2019
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