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Impact of mowing management on nitrogen mineralization rate and fungal and bacterial communities in a semiarid grassland ecosystem

  • Soils, Sec 5 • Soil and Landscape Ecology • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Microbes play a key role in soil nutrient cycling and supply in the extensive semiarid grassland ecosystem, where no fertilizers are applied. However, the role of fungi vs bacteria in nitrogen (N) mineralization in such ecosystem is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to determine the impacts of different mowing practices on fungal and bacterial communities and the relationships between the two microbial communities and net N mineralization rate (R m).

Materials and methods

This study was based on a 13-year mowing experiment in Inner Mongolia. The treatments included mowing once every second year (M1/2), mowing twice every 3 years (M2/3), mowing once a year (M1), mowing twice a year (M2), and the unmown (control, CK). Soil basic chemical properties, R m, microbial biomass, bacterial and fungal community abundance, and diversity were determined, and fungal phylogeny and the relationship between microbial community and R m were analyzed.

Results and discussion

Moderate mowing (M1/2, M2/3, and M1) enhanced soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, R m, fungal community abundance and diversity which might mainly because of the increased decomposer fungi species, but the higher frequency mowing (M2) significantly decreased the above. There was a significant correlation between fungal community abundance and R m (r = 0.688, P = 0.005) in this study. However, different mowing practices had little effect on the bacterial community, which might due to human disturbance (mowing practices) and poor environmental conditions (drought, limited available nitrogen and phosphorus).

Conclusions

Overall, fungi may play a more important role than bacteria in N mineralization under mowing management in such a grassland ecosystem. Moderate-frequency mowing, e.g., M1, is more appropriate for maintaining soil microbial communities and soil fertility, whereas the high-frequency mowing, e.g., M2, is not sustainable for maintaining soil nutrients and microbial community in such a semiarid grassland ecosystem in a long term.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the support of Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This work was financially supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (2014CB138801) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271272 and 41401266).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, Ministry of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Jiangye Li, Qichun Zhang, Yong Li, Jun Liu, Hong Pan, Xiongming Guan, Xiaoya Xu, Jianming Xu & Hongjie Di

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  1. Jiangye Li
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  2. Qichun Zhang
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  3. Yong Li
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  4. Jun Liu
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  7. Xiaoya Xu
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Correspondence to Qichun Zhang.

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Responsible editor: Yanfen Wang

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Fig S1

Effects of mowing on MBC (a), MBN (b) and MBC/MBN (c) in soil. MBC, microbial biomass carbon. MBN, microbial biomass nitrogen, MBC/MBN ratio, MBC to MBN ratio. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05). (PDF 10 kb)

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Li, J., Zhang, Q., Li, Y. et al. Impact of mowing management on nitrogen mineralization rate and fungal and bacterial communities in a semiarid grassland ecosystem. J Soils Sediments 17, 1715–1726 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1620-1

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