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Long-term effects of grassland management on soil microbial abundance: implications for soil carbon and nitrogen storage

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Abstract

Grassland management intensification can significantly affect the structure and composition of important soil microbial groups such as bacteria and fungi. Changes to these microbial communities can greatly influence carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in grassland soils. Here we specifically address how microbial abundances might shift under the effect of multiple management practices and how this in turn might relate to changes in soil C and N storage. Soil samples were collected from a 23-year-old grassland experiment and real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed to address whether and how (1) chronic nutrient additions, (2) liming (i.e., the addition of CaCO3 to soils), and (3) grazing by rabbits might affect archaeal, bacterial and fungal microbial groups. We found that liming additions significantly increased archaeal and bacterial abundance whilst strongly reducing fungal abundance. The addition of N-only (as NH4NO3) significantly reduced bacterial abundance while chronic grazing by rabbits resulted in positive effects on archaeal abundance. Despite long-term grassland management significantly affecting soil microbial abundances (and Fungal-to-Bacterial ratios), microbial changes were not related to either changes in soil C or N pools. Overall, our results suggest that (1) important microbial-‘soil functioning’ relationships may only be detected at lower taxonomic levels, and (2) liming-induced increases in soil pH determined significant shifts in soil microbial abundance, which could have important consequences for the delivery of multiple soil ecosystem services (i.e., nutrient regulation, C and N sequestration) from permanent grassland.

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Acknowledgements

GE and DF wrote the manuscript, DF conceived the research study, XZ, DW and ZJ performed most microbial analyses, MJC provided access and info of the long-term experiment.

Funding

This study was financed by the Department of Employment and Learning (DEL) and also supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA) of Northern Ireland (UK) [48149 (Soil Health Project)].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ulster University, Cromore Road, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK

    Gary Egan

  2. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, Jiangsu, China

    Xue Zhou, Dongmei Wang & Zhongjun Jia

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, England, UK

    Michael J. Crawley

  4. Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, 18A Newforge Lane, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT9 5PX, Northern Ireland, UK

    Dario Fornara

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  1. Gary Egan
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  2. Xue Zhou
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  3. Dongmei Wang
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  4. Zhongjun Jia
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  5. Michael J. Crawley
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Correspondence to Gary Egan.

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Egan, G., Zhou, X., Wang, D. et al. Long-term effects of grassland management on soil microbial abundance: implications for soil carbon and nitrogen storage. Biogeochemistry 141, 213–228 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-018-0515-1

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