Department of Applied Ecology, Geisenheim University, Von-Lade-Str. 1, 65366, Geisenheim, Germany.
Department of Crop Protection, Geisenheim University, Von-Lade-Str. 1, 65366, Geisenheim, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 2;13(1):3568. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-30338-z.
Promoting soil functioning by maintaining soil microbial diversity and activity is central for sustainable agriculture. In viticulture, soil management often includes tillage, which poses a multifaceted disturbance to the soil environment and has direct and indirect effects on soil microbial diversity and soil functioning. However, the challenge of disentangling the effects of different soil management practices on soil microbial diversity and functioning has rarely been addressed. In this study, we investigated the effects of soil management on soil bacterial and fungal diversity as well as soil functions (soil respiration and decomposition) using a balanced experimental design with four soil management types in nine vineyards in Germany. Application of structural equation modelling enabled us to investigate the causal relationships of soil disturbance, vegetation cover, and plant richness on soil properties, microbial diversity, and soil functions. We could show that soil disturbance by tillage increased bacterial diversity but decreased fungal diversity. We identified a positive effect of plant diversity on bacterial diversity. Soil respiration showed a positive response to soil disturbance, while decomposition was negatively affected in highly disturbed soils via mediated effects of vegetation removal. Our results contribute to the understanding of direct and indirect effects of vineyard soil management on soil life and aids designing targeted recommendations for agricultural soil management.
通过维持土壤微生物多样性和活性来促进土壤功能是可持续农业的核心。在葡萄栽培中，土壤管理通常包括耕作，这对土壤环境造成了多方面的干扰，并直接和间接影响土壤微生物多样性和土壤功能。然而，将不同土壤管理措施对土壤微生物多样性和功能的影响分开来的挑战很少得到解决。在这项研究中，我们使用德国九个葡萄园的平衡实验设计，研究了土壤管理对土壤细菌和真菌多样性以及土壤功能（土壤呼吸和分解）的影响。应用结构方程模型，我们能够研究土壤干扰、植被覆盖和植物丰富度对土壤特性、微生物多样性和土壤功能的因果关系。我们可以证明耕作引起的土壤干扰会增加细菌多样性，但会降低真菌多样性。我们发现植物多样性对细菌多样性有积极影响。土壤呼吸对土壤干扰有积极响应，而在高度干扰的土壤中，由于植被去除的介导作用，分解作用受到负面影响。我们的研究结果有助于理解葡萄园土壤管理对土壤生物的直接和间接影响，并为农业土壤管理提供有针对性的建议。
