Zang Xiaoping, Li Kai, Yun Tianyan, Rashed Afaf Abdullah, Melebari Dalia Mohammad, Ding Zheli, Osman Hanan Elsayed, Eissa Mamdouh A, He Yingdui, Jing Tao, Wang Lixia, Liu Yongxia, Xie Jianghui, Ma Weihong, Wei Changbin
National Key Laboratory for Tropical Crop Breeding, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology & Sanya Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou 571101/Sanya 572024, China.
Biology Department Faculty of Science Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
BMC Plant Biol. 2025 Mar 25;25(1):378. doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06395-z.
Tropical rainforest soils, or latosols, are distinguished by their low pH and low fertility. In orchards, co-cultivating grass has become popular as a way to improve soil quality and boost fruit production. Nevertheless, insufficient information is currently available about the response of soil microbial communities in tropical rainforest orchards to grass co-cultivation. Therefore, the present research investigates the effect of grass cultivation on the soil properties and microbial diversity of guava (Psidium guajava L. cv Pearl) latosol orchards. Two varieties of the tropical legume grass Stylosanthes guianensis, i.e., Reyan No. 2 and Ubon, were studied, besides the control (CK), which is without any grass, and the natural grasses treatment (N). The study contained four treatments, i.e., S. guianensis cv. Reyan No. 2, S. guianensis cv. Ubon, CK, and N. Soil samples from the top layer (0-20 cm) and subsoil layer (20-40 cm) were collected to follow the changes in soil microbial biodiversity based on 16 S rDNA analysis. A total of 17,231 kinds of OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) were obtained, including 17,165 kinds of bacteria and 66 kinds of Archaea. S. guianensis cv. The Ubon variety, natural grasses, and CK treatments significantly increased the soil microbial richness and evenness in the topsoil layer compared to Reyan No. 2 variety. The β-diversity of soil microbial community was significantly reduced in the natural grasses and Ubon variety treatments at the topsoil layer compared to CK treatment. In the subsoil layer, natural grasses, Reyan No. 2, and Ubon treatments significantly increased the soil microbial community based on β-diversity. The presence of natural grasses caused 49% and 42% increases in the SOC in the top and subsoil layers, respectively, as well as remarkable increases in the available and total soil nitrogen. The grass intercropping enhanced the levels of soil carbon and nitrogen and altered the nature of the soil's microbial community. The diversity of soil microorganisms in the subsoil layer is significantly altered by the shallow root systems of tropical legume and natural grasses, which have most of their roots concentrated in the top soil layer. Overall, growing grass in tropical orchards benefits the latosolic soil microorganisms, which has enhanced the theoretical underpinnings for using grass to improve the soil quality in latosols orchards.
热带雨林土壤，即砖红壤，其特点是pH值低且肥力低。在果园中，间作草作为一种改善土壤质量和提高水果产量的方法已变得很流行。然而，目前关于热带雨林果园土壤微生物群落对间作草的响应的信息不足。因此，本研究调查了种草对番石榴（Psidium guajava L. cv Pearl）砖红壤果园土壤性质和微生物多样性的影响。除了不种草的对照（CK）和天然草处理（N）外，还研究了两种热带豆科牧草柱花草，即热研2号和热研乌本。该研究包含四个处理，即热研2号柱花草、热研乌本柱花草、CK和N。采集表层（0 - 20厘米）和底土层（20 - 40厘米）的土壤样本，基于16S rDNA分析追踪土壤微生物多样性的变化。共获得17231种OTU（操作分类单元），其中包括17165种细菌和66种古菌。与热研2号品种相比，热研乌本柱花草品种、天然草和CK处理显著提高了表层土壤的微生物丰富度和均匀度。与CK处理相比，表层土壤中天然草和热研乌本柱花草品种处理的土壤微生物群落β多样性显著降低。在底土层，基于β多样性，天然草、热研2号和热研乌本处理显著增加了土壤微生物群落。天然草的存在使表层和底土层的土壤有机碳分别增加了49%和42%，同时土壤有效氮和总氮也显著增加。草间作提高了土壤碳氮水平，并改变了土壤微生物群落的性质。热带豆科牧草和天然草的浅根系显著改变了底土层土壤微生物的多样性，它们的大部分根系集中在表层土壤。总体而言，在热带果园种草有利于砖红壤土壤微生物，这为利用草来改善砖红壤果园土壤质量提供了理论依据。
