Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Short-Term Application of Magnesium Fertilizer Affected Soil Microbial Biomass, Activity, and Community Structure

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Fertilizers influence soil microbial processes and functions. The use of magnesium (Mg) fertilizer is increasing worldwide, but the effects of mineral Mg application on soil microbial biomass, activity, and diversity remain poorly understood. In this study, a 120-day experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) on soil microbial biomass, enzyme activity, and bacterial community composition. Two acidic Mg deficient soils, a high organic matter (S) and a low organic matter soil (X), were treated with MgSO4 at the dose of 0, 50, 100, and 200 mg kg−1. Results showed that MgSO4 application significantly increased microbial biomass carbon, and activities of invertase and protease of both soils, but decreased the phosphatase activity in X soil. Mg fertilizer changed the soil bacterial community structure, e.g., the relative abundance of genera Acidobacter, Mizugakiibacter, and Singulisphaera increased while the relative abundance of Acidiphilium, Bradyrhizobium, and Gemmatimonas decreased in S soil. In X soil, the abundance of genera Sphingomonas, Pseudolabrys, and Streptomyces were enhanced and the relative abundance of Anaeromyxobacter, Bradyrhizobium, and Haliangium was reduced by the application of Mg fertilizer. Redundancy analysis showed that soil bacterial community composition was shaped by exchangeable-Mg and sulfate concentrations, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC), and the exchangeable Mg was the strongest factor influencing microbial abundance and composition. Our results suggest that short-term Mg fertilizer application influenced soil microbial biomass, activity, and bacterial community composition.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ai C, Liang G, Sun J, He P, Tang S, Yang S, Wei Z, Wang X (2015) The alleviation of acid soil stress in rice by inorganic or organic ameliorants is associated with changes in soil enzyme activity and microbial community composition. Biol Fert Soils 51:465–477

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Andam CP, Parker MA (2007) Novel alphaproteobacterial root nodule symbiont associated with Lupinus texensis. Appl Environ Microb 73:5687–5691

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Assunção NS, Ribeiro NP, da Silva RM, Soratto RP, Fernandes AM (2020) Tuber yield and allocation of nutrients and carbohydrates in potato plants as affected by limestone type and magnesium supply. J Plant Nutr 43:51–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burns RG, DeForest JL, Marxsen J, Sinsabaugh RL, Stromberger ME, Wallenstein MD, Weintraub MN, Zoppinih A (2013) Soil enzymes in a changing environment: current knowledge and future directions. Soil Biol Biochem 58:216–234

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cakmak I, Yazici AM (2010) Magnesium: a forgotten element in crop production. Better Crops 94:23–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen J, Li Y, Wen S, Rosanoff A, Yang G, Sun X (2017) Magnesium fertilizer-induced increase of symbiotic microorganisms improves forage growth and quality. J Agr Food Chem 65:3253–3258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ciftci M, Özmen I, Büyükokuroğlu ME, Pençe S, Küfrevioğlu OI (2001) Effects of metamizol and magnesium sulfate on enzyme activity of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase from human erythrocyte in vitro and rat erythrocyte in vivo. Clin Biochem 34:297–302

  • Cowan JA (2002) Structural and catalytic chemistry of magnesium-dependent enzymes. Biometals 15:225–235

  • Cui J, Holden NM (2015) The relationship between soil microbial activity and microbial biomass, soil structure and grassland management. Soil Till Res 146:32–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David MB, Mitchell MJ, Nakas JP (1982) Organic and inorganic sulfur constituents of a forest soil and their relationship to microbial activity. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46:847–852

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dedysh SN, Kulichevskaya IS, Huber KJ, Overmann J (2017) Defining the taxonomic status of described subdivision 3 Acidobacteria: theproposal of Bryobacteraceae fam. Nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 67:498–501

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Edmeades DC, Wheeler DM, Crouchley G (1985) Effects of liming on soil magnesium on some soils in New Zealand. Commun Soil Sci Plan 16:727–739

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eo J, Park KC (2016) Long-term effects of imbalanced fertilization on the composition and diversity of soil bacterial community. Agric Ecosyst Environ 231:176–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanin N, Hättenschwiler S, Schimann H, Fromin N (2015) Interactive effects of C, N and P fertilization on soil microbial community structure and function in an Amazonian rain forest. Funct Ecol 29:140–150

  • Garcia A, Cruscio CAC, McCray JM, Nascimento CAC, Martello JM, de Siqueira GF, Tarumoto MB (2020) Magnesium as a promoter of technological quality in sugarcane. J Soil Sci Plant Nut 20:19–30

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gransee A, Führs H (2013) Magnesium mobility in soils as a challenge for soil and plant analysis, magnesium fertilization and root uptake under adverse growth conditions. Plant Soil 368:5–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guan SY (1986) Soil enzymes and its methodology. Agricultural Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayward AC, Fegan N, Fegan M, Stirling GR (2010) Stenotrophomonas and Lysobacter: ubiquitous plant-associated gamma-proteobacteria of developing significance in applied microbiology. J Appl Microbiol 108:756–770

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hori T, Müller A, Igarashi Y, Conrad R, Friedrich MW (2010) Identification of iron-reducing microorganisms in anoxic rice paddy soil by13C-acetate probing. ISME J 4:267–278

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Levitt LS (1954) The role of magnesium in photosynthesis. Science 120:33–35

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ling N, Chen D, Guo H, Wei J, Bai Y, Shen Q, Hu S (2017) Differential responses of soil bacterial communities to long-term N and P inputs in a semi-arid steppe. Geoderma 292:25–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano YM, Hortal S, Armas C, Pugnaire FI (2014) Interactions among soil, plants, and microorganisms drive secondary succession in a dry environment. Soil Biol Biochem 78:298–306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkelsen R (2010) Soil and fertilizer magnesium. Better Crops 94:26–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Nie Y, Wang M, Zhang W, Ni Z, Hashidoko Y, Shen W (2018) Ammonium nitrogen content is a dominant predictor of bacterial community composition in an acidic forest soil with exogenous nitrogen enrichment. Sci Total Environ 624:407–415

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ortas I (2018) Influence of potassium and magnesium fertilizer application on the yield and nutrient accumulation of maize genotypes under field conditions. J Plant Nutr 41:330–339

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oteino N, Lally RD, Kiwanuka S, Lloyd A, Ryan D, Germaine KJ, Dowling DN (2015) Plant growth promotion induced by phosphate solubilizing endophytic Pseudomonas isolates. Frontier Microbiol 6:745

    Google Scholar 

  • Park D, Kim H, Yoon S (2017) Nitrous oxide reduction by an obligate aerobic bacterium, Gemmatimonas aurantiaca strain T-27. Appl Environ Microb 83:e00502–e00517

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poly F, Wertz S, Brothier E, Degrange V (2008) First exploration of Nitrobacter diversity in soils by a PCR cloning-sequencing approach targeting functional gene nxrA. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 63:132–140

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez KS, Craine JM, Fierer N (2012) Consistent effects of nitrogen amendments on soil microbial communities and processes across biomes. Glob Change Biol 18:1918–1927

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao MPN, Xiao M, Li WJ (2018) Characterization of the genus Sinomonas: from taxonomy to applications. In New and Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Elsevier179–190

  • Rath KM, Fierer N, Murphy DV, Rousk J (2019) Linking bacterial community composition to soil salinity along environmental gradients. ISME J 13:836–846

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosanoff A (2013) Changing crop magnesium concentrations: impact on human health. Plant Soil 368:139–153

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schloss PD, Westcott SL, Ryabin T, Hall JR, Hartmann M, Hollister EB, Lesniewski RA, Oakley BB, Parks DH, Robinson CJ (2009) Introducing mothur: open-source, platform-independent, community-supported software for describing and comparing microbial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 75:7537–7541

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Senbayram M, Gransee A, Wahle V, Thiel H (2015) Role of magnesium fertilizers in agriculture: plant-soil continuum. Crop Pasture Sci 66:1219–1229

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Uddin M, Chen J, Qiao X, Tian R, Arafat Y, Yang X (2019) Bacterial community variations in paddy soils induced by application of veterinary antibiotics in plant-soil systems. Ecotox Environ Safe 167:44–53

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ueki A, Kodama Y, Kaku N, Shiromura T, Satoh A, Watanabe K, Katsuji U (2010) Rhizomicrobium palustre gen. nov., sp. nov., a facultatively anaerobic, fermentative stalked bacterium in the class Alphaproteobacteria isolated from rice plant roots. J Gen Appl Microbiol 56:193–203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van Etten E (2005) Multivariate analysis of ecological data using canoco. Austral Ecol 30(4):486–487

  • Vance ED, Brookes PC, Jenkinson DS (1987) An extraction method for measuring soil microbial biomass C. Soil Biol Biochem 19:703–707

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasconcellos R, Cardoso E (2009) Rhizospheric streptomycetes as potential biocontrol agents of Fusarium and Armillaria pine rot and as PGPR for Pinus taeda. Biocontrol 54:807–816

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vera A, Moreno JL, García C, Morais D, Bastida F (2019) Boron in soil: the impacts on the biomass, composition and activity of the soil microbial community. Sci Total Environ 685:564–573

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Videira SS, De Araujo JL, Rodrigues LS, Baldani VL, Baldani JI (2009) Occurrence and diversity of nitrogen-fixing Sphingomonas bacteria associated with rice plants grown in Brazil. FEMS Microbiol Lett 293:11–19

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang R, Yang C, Zhang M, Xu SY, Dai CL, Liang LY, Zhao HP, Zheng P (2017) Chemoautotrophic denitrification based on ferrous iron oxidation: reactor performance and sludge characteristics. Chem Eng J 313:693–701

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang C, Lu X, Mori T, Mao Q, Zhou K, Zhou G, Nie Y, Mo J (2018) Responses of soil microbial community to continuous experimental nitrogen additions for 13 years in a nitrogen-rich tropical forest. Soil Biol Biochem 121:103–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wieczorek AS, Hetz SA, Kolb S (2014) Microbial responses to chitin and chitosan in oxic and anoxic agricultural soil slurries. Biogeosciences 11:3339–3352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyszkowska J, Wyszkowski M (2002) Effect of cadmium and magnesium on microbiological activity in soil. Pol J Environl Stud 11:585–592

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wyszkowska J, Wyszkowski M (2003) Effect of cadmium and magnesium on enzymatic activity in soil. Pol J Environl Stud 12:473–479

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia Z, Bai E, Wang Q, Gao D, Zhou J, Jiang P, Wu J (2016) Biogeographic distribution patterns of bacteria in typical Chinese forest soils. Front Microbiol 7:1106

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Xu G, Wei LL, Sun JN, Shao HB, Chang SX (2013) What is more important for enhancing nutrient bioavailability with biochar application into a sandy soil: direct or indirect mechanism? Ecol Eng 52:119–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang C, Wang X, Miao F, Li Z, Tang W, Sun J (2020) Assessing the effect of soil salinization on soil microbial respiration and diversities under incubation conditions. Appl Soil Ecol 155:103671

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou J, Guan D, Zhou B, Zhao B, Ma M, Qin J, Jiang X, Chen S, Cao F, Shen D, Li J (2015) Influence of 34-years of fertilization on bacterial communities in an intensively cultivated black soil in northeast China. Soil Biol Biochem 90:42–51

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Z, Gao T, Van Zwieten L, Zhu Q, Yan T, Xue J, Wu Y (2019) Soil microbial community structure shifts induced by biochar and biochar-based fertilizer amendment to karst calcareous soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 83:398–408

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Prof Hong Liao from Root Biology Center of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University for her assistance in the experimental design, soil collection and encouragement on this work.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the International Magnesium Institute (IMI) and the Technology Innovation Fund Project of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (CXZX2019075S, CXZX2019076G and KFA18107A).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Research Laboratory on Soil Ecosystem Health and Regulation in Fujian Provincial University, College of Resource and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Wenhao Yang, Liangquan Wu, Christopher Rensing & Shihe Xing

  2. International Magnesium Institute (IMI), College of Resource and Environment, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Wenhao Yang, Xiaotong Zhang & Liangquan Wu

Authors
  1. Wenhao Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xiaotong Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Liangquan Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Christopher Rensing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shihe Xing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher Rensing.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

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

Supplementary Information

ESM 1

(DOCX 24 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, W., Zhang, X., Wu, L. et al. Short-Term Application of Magnesium Fertilizer Affected Soil Microbial Biomass, Activity, and Community Structure. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 21, 675–689 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00392-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00392-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation