Instruct: Identify the main category of Biorxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Cover crop residue diversity enhances microbial activity and biomass with additive effects on microbial structure Cover crops have been widely used in agroecosystems to improve soil fertility and environmental sustainability. The decomposition of cover crop residues can have further effects on belowground communities and their activity, which is important for a series of soil functions (e.g., nutrient cycling and organic matter decomposition). We tested the effect of plant residues from a range of cover crop species on soil microbial activity and community assemblage. We predicted that cover crop residues would alter the soil microbial community and that a greater diversity of residues would enhance microbial decomposition. In an incubation study, we assessed the effect of crop residue diversity on microbial activity (soil respiration) and its consequent effects on microbial community composition (PLFA). We used either a biodiverse mixture of four cover crop residues (buckwheat, clover, sunflower and radish) or an equal mass of the residues of each of the individual species. The diverse mixture of cover crop residues had a significantly (P < 0.05) greater soil respiration rate, by 57.61 {micro}g C g-1 h-1, than the average of the four individual residues, but did not have a significantly different soil microbial biomass or microbial community structure. This finding could be attributed to a greater diversity of organic resources increasing the number biochemical niches, and hence activating dormant microbial communities to increase microbial activity without affecting microbial biomass or community composition. Greater respiration from similar microbial biomasses suggests that microbial activity might be more efficient after a more diverse substrate input. This study confirms the positive impact of cover crop residues on soil microbial biomass and activity and highlights that mixtures of cover crop residues may deliver enhanced soil functions beyond the sum of individual cover crop residues.
19
The categories of this paper are: epidemiology
26
The categories of this paper are: biochemistry
13
The categories of this paper are: animal
23
The categories of this paper are: immunology
21
The categories of this paper are: toxicology
3
The categories of this paper are: evolutionary
0
The categories of this paper are: genetics
28
The categories of this paper are: communication
17
The categories of this paper are: molecular
2
The categories of this paper are: biology
32
The categories of this paper are: zoology
24
The categories of this paper are: cancer
25
The categories of this paper are: bioengineering
31
The categories of this paper are: paleontology
11
The categories of this paper are: cognition
22
The categories of this paper are: physiology