Skip to main content
Log in

Erosion and deposition significantly affect the microbial diversity, co-occurrence network, and multifunctionality in agricultural soils of Northeast China

  • Soils, Sec 5 • Soil and Landscape Ecology • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Soil erosion and deposition are natural occurrences that can greatly affect the functions of soil. Currently, soil erosion has become an important cause of soil degradation in the northeast China, which severely limits the sustainable development of agriculture. Therefore, understanding the effects of soil erosion and deposition on multiple soil ecosystem functions and soil microbial communities can facilitate a comprehensive assessment of their influence on soil quality and fertility of this region.

Materials and methods

This study investigated the effects of soil erosion and deposition on microbial diversity and community in agroecosystems with Mollisols (black soil) at different sites of a slope in northeastern China. The study involves comparison of four slope sites with different erosion intensities and a deposition site. Firstly, a multifunctionality index was generated after determination of a number of soil physicochemical and microbiological parameters. Then, the soil bacteria were determined by 16 s rRNA gene sequencing technology. Finally, the above data were analyzed to investigate the relationship among microbial community characteristics, soil multifunctionality, and soil erosion and deposition.

Results and discussion

Erosion reduces while deposition enhances soil multifunctionality and microbial diversity. Soil multifunctionality decreased from 0.52 (TS) to –0.83 (LS) and increased to 0.85 (FS). Erosion and deposition significantly changed the abundance of Desulfobacterota, Geobacteraceae, Methylomirabilota, and others, which may be related to soil physicochemical properties and hydrothermal conditions. Erosion reduced the complexity and stability of the co-occurrence network of bacteria, whose node and robustness respectively decreased from 540 and 0.1936 (TS) to 488 and 0.1881 (LS), and the vulnerability increased from 0.0006 (TS) to 0.0013 (LS). Moreover, the complexity and stability showed positive correlations with soil multifunctionality and microbial diversity. Overall, our results indicated that erosion and deposition can significantly affect soil multifunctionality and microbial diversity, which will further alter soil microbial communities and their functions.

Conclusions

Soil degradation caused by soil erosion may be reflected not only by the reduction of soil nutrients and destruction of soil structure, but also by decreases in soil microbial diversity, network complexity, and stability. Soil degradation caused by erosion includes a decline in soil multifunctionality and microbial characteristics, both of which should be taken into account when treating and rehabilitating degraded soils caused by erosion.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFD1500703) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42177317). The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers and editor for helpful comments on prior versions of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junguang Wang.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Hang-Wei Hu

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, Q., Peng, J., Ni, S. et al. Erosion and deposition significantly affect the microbial diversity, co-occurrence network, and multifunctionality in agricultural soils of Northeast China. J Soils Sediments 24, 888–900 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03687-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03687-5

Keywords

Navigation