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Legumes have a greater effect on rhizosphere properties (pH, organic acids and enzyme activity) but a smaller impact on soil P compared to other cover crops

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Abstract

Background and aims

Plants affect phosphorus (P) cycling through uptake and the mobilization of P from several soil pools into soil solution. The effects of seven cover crop species – three legumes (variable morphology), three cereals (variable domestication degree), one mustard (non-mycorrhizal) – on P cycling were compared in a greenhouse experiment.

Methods

Monocultures and legume-cereal mixtures were grown in an artificial plant growth substrate across three P input treatments (low P, manure, mineral fertilizer) to quantify changes in plant nutrients in aboveground and belowground biomass and properties of the plant growth substrate (pH, organic acids, enzyme activity, P).

Results

Legumes had the highest biomass, P uptake, and P mobilization potential (lower pH, higher organic acids and phosphatase activity) but cereals and mixtures mobilized more P than legumes. Biomass allocation to roots varied among species, with no trade-off between allocation to roots and P mobilization potential. Cereals had higher biomass, P uptake and N concentration in mixtures, whereas legumes had a mixed response in mixtures. Phosphorus concentration in the plant growth substrate affected plant growth and nutrient uptake but not P mobilization potential, with few differences between manure and mineral fertilizer.

Conclusions

Despite smaller effects on rhizosphere properties compared to legumes, cereals and mixtures had a greater impact on soil P and should affect P cycling more strongly when used as cover crops.

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Acknowledgments

I thank S. Kolarik, T. Canonico, A. Lindstrom, L. Reji, R. Bergman, C. Turner and M. Patterson for lab assistance; T. Fukami and R. Vannette for technical assistance with UPLC; K. Peay and J. Talbot for technical assistance with enzyme analyses; Peter Vitousek, Emmanuel Frossard, three anonymous reviewers, and section editor Jim Barrow for comments.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This research was partially funded by a graduate fellowship to G. Maltais-Landry from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT), and a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). G. Maltais-Landry declares no conflict of interest and certifies that principles of ethical and professional conduct have been followed at all stages involved in the preparation of this manuscript.

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  1. G. Maltais-Landry

    Present address: Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

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  1. Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    G. Maltais-Landry

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Correspondence to G. Maltais-Landry.

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Responsible Editor: N. Jim Barrow.

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Maltais-Landry, G. Legumes have a greater effect on rhizosphere properties (pH, organic acids and enzyme activity) but a smaller impact on soil P compared to other cover crops. Plant Soil 394, 139–154 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2518-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2518-1

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