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Aeration can alleviate soil hypoxia stress of Phyllostachys praecox bamboo under mulching conditions, but how aeration affects soil properties, soil fungal community structure, and bamboo development is unclear. We studied the responses of soil properties, fungal community structure, bamboo shoots, and rhizome growth to organic mulching (TM), mulching with aeration (TA1 and TA2), and no‐mulching treatments (CK) from a field experiment in March and July, 2019. During the mulching period (March), the aeration improvement treatment (TA2) improved soil O2 content, bamboo shoots yield, and soil nutrient availability significantly when compared with TM. TA2 treatment showed significantly higher relative abundances of the genus Trichoderma and functional group endophyte than TM treatment, which might be conducive to soil nutrient transformation and bamboo growth. The TA2 treatment had higher fungal diversity indices than that of the TA1 treatment, suggesting that optimal aeration conditions enhance soil fungal diversity. The fungal community structure also showed strong temporal dynamics in all treatments. Mantel test results indicated soil O2 is the primary factor driving fungal community structure under mulching conditions, while has no impact on the fungal community in summer; fungal community structure was primarily controlled by soil pH in summer. Structural equation model revealed soil NO3−‐N content was responsible directly for bamboo rhizome growth and shoot yield. Our results indicate short‐term mulching is beneficial to soil nutrients improvement and bamboo yield increase, while rational aeration can further facilitate sustainable plantation development under hypoxic soil conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Phyllostachys praecox is one of the bamboo species that cultivated extensively in southern China. An organic material mulching technique is commonly adopted in winter to increase the yield of bamboo shoots and profits. However, P. praecox is inevitable to be declined when using the technique continuously. Accordingly, we conducted an aeration study to explore the mechanism of the bamboo recession. Methods: P. praecox were subjected to mulching and aeration treatments for 50 days, antioxidant enzymes, anaerobic respiratory metabolizing enzymes, and photosynthesis characteristics were investigated in root and leaf tissues. Results: The mulching treatment led to bamboo hypoxia stress, while the aeration improved bamboo growth. Compared with mulching treatment, the aeration treatment significantly increased the soil oxygen content. Aeration treatment led to increases in the bamboo root respiratory activity by 19.74%, but decreased ADH, LDH, PDC, SOD, CAT, APX, GR activities by 64.98%, 36.58%, 57.78%, 21.57%, 33.33%, 22.60%, and 32.06%, respectively. Moreover, the aeration treatment greatly enhanced chlorophyll synthesis and improved bamboo photosynthesis. Conclusions: Soil hypoxia induced by the organic material mulching inhibited bamboo growth, which might be the critical factor in the bamboo recession. Our results indicated aeration was conducive to preventing the degeneration of the P. praecox bamboo forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]