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Agronomy
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Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems
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Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 22710

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Florian Wichern

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Marie-Curie-Straße 1, 47533 Kleve, Germany
Interests: nutrient and matter flows at different scales; circular economy, secondary fertilizer; plant roots; rhizodeposition; plant-microbial interactions; soil microbiology; soil salinity; drought stress; insect frass; organic farming; sustainable agriculture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

How should we manage the soil microbial biomass as a nutrient reservoir and facilitator of nutrient supply for fertilization strategies in sustainable agriculture?

The soil microbial biomass (SMB) has been studied quantitatively for more than fifty years. At present, we have well-established methods to assess the microbial biomass pool size reliably for carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and, with some restrictions, phosphorus (P). However, to what extent the SMB acts as a nutrient reservoir for other essential plant macronutrients and trace elements, and the stoichiometry of the soil microbial community, are less well known. Furthermore, the accuracy of quantitatively predicting nutrient release from the SMB, from microbial residues (i.e., the microbial necromass), and from organic matter reliably and synchronizing it with plant nutrient demand is low. It remains unclear how microbial biomass and its stoichiometry as well as soil microbial community composition shapes microbial physiology, and therefore quantitatively affects activity parameters such as mineralization processes. Consequently, in practical farming only very rough estimates of microbial nutrient release are considered for plant nutrition, if at all. It is desirable to increase nutrient use efficiency in a more sustainable agriculture, reduce external inputs, and lower losses of nutrients to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, a better quantitative assessment and understanding of the microbial nutrient provision to crop plants, as affected by agronomic practices such as crop rotation, tillage, organic matter management, fertilization, and liming is required.

Therefore, this Special Issue is set up to summarize the state of knowledge on quantitative nutrient release from and by the SMB in agricultural, particularly arable, systems and to elucidate knowledge gaps and research required to facilitate the application of soil biological plant nutrition in agriculture. This Special Issue will particularly focus on scientific work dealing with the quantification of the SMB as a nutrient pool and facilitator of nutrient release in agricultural pot and field experiments and consequences for nutrient provision to crops. We also welcome review and synthesis papers on SMB management for plant nutrition.

Prof. Dr. Florian Wichern
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil microbial biomass
  • microbial nitrogen
  • microbial phosphorus
  • nutrient release
  • quantification
  • nutrient pool
  • microbial activity
  • mineralization

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 910 KiB  
Article
Modelling the Organic Evolution of a Mediterranean Limestone Soil under Usual Cropping of Durum Wheat and Faba Bean
by Hatem Ibrahim, Sinda Gaieb, Nadhem Brahim, Didier Blavet, Karel Van den Meersche and Marc Pansu
Agronomy 2021, 11(9), 1688; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091688 - 25 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2102
Abstract
The modeling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes between microorganisms and plants in pure and associated cultures of durum wheat and faba bean demonstrated a close link between the C and N cycles in agroecosystems. The MOMOS (microorganisms and organic matter of [...] Read more.
The modeling of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) fluxes between microorganisms and plants in pure and associated cultures of durum wheat and faba bean demonstrated a close link between the C and N cycles in agroecosystems. The MOMOS (microorganisms and organic matter of soils) model integrates simplified descriptions of photosynthesis (origin of organic C in soil), N microbial exchange (soil origin for N), N fixation (atmospheric origin for N), and plant growth with an organic matter decomposition core that has the soil microbial community at its center. This work provides estimates of the exchange parameters between plant organs and microbes, which were compared to literature data when available. In a connection with photosynthesized C, the root demand for inorganic N can be adjusted by its microbial production. Our approach is a new methodology for improving plant production, by optimizing the interactions with soil microorganisms. Additionally, the coupling of plant growth and microbial processes enabled determining changes of the organic compartments of soil. In the unfertilized limestone soil of this study, sequestration was found to be located in the labile microbial metabolites for one year, then significantly transferred to stable humus during 6-year intercropping. Thus, we propose the MOMOS mathematical tool, not only for guiding ecological intensification, but also related to the management of agroecosystems for climate change mitigation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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17 pages, 1769 KiB  
Article
Nitrogen Immobilisation and Microbial Biomass Build-Up Induced by Miscanthus x giganteus L. Based Fertilisers
by Michael Stotter, Florian Wichern, Ralf Pude and Martin Hamer
Agronomy 2021, 11(7), 1386; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11071386 - 9 Jul 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2703
Abstract
Cultivation of Miscanthus x giganteus L. (Mis) with annual harvest of biomass could provide an additional C source for farmers. To test the potential of Mis-C for immobilizing inorganic N from slurry or manure and as a C source for [...] Read more.
Cultivation of Miscanthus x giganteus L. (Mis) with annual harvest of biomass could provide an additional C source for farmers. To test the potential of Mis-C for immobilizing inorganic N from slurry or manure and as a C source for soil organic matter build-up in comparison to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw (WS), a greenhouse experiment was performed. Pot experiments with ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were set up to investigate the N dynamics of two organic fertilisers based on Mis at Campus Klein-Altendorf, Germany. The two fertilisers, a mixture of cattle slurry and Mis as well as cattle manure from Mis-bedding material resulted in a slightly higher N immobilisation. Especially at the 1st and 2nd harvest, they were partly significantly different compared with the WS treatments. The fertilisers based on Mis resulted in a slightly higher microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N and thus can be identified as an additional C source to prevent nitrogen losses and for the build-up of soil organic matter (SOM) in the long-term. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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14 pages, 2685 KiB  
Article
Effects of Manure and Chemical Fertilizer on Bacterial Community Structure and Soil Enzyme Activities in North China
by Zhiping Liu, Wenyan Xie, Zhenxing Yang, Xuefang Huang and Huaiping Zhou
Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 1017; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11051017 - 20 May 2021
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3902
Abstract
The application of organic fertilizer affects soil microbes and enzyme activities. In this study, we explored the effects of various long-term different fertilization treatments (manure, M; chemical fertilizer, NP; manure + chemical fertilizer, MNP; and no fertilizer, CK) on bacterial community structure and [...] Read more.
The application of organic fertilizer affects soil microbes and enzyme activities. In this study, we explored the effects of various long-term different fertilization treatments (manure, M; chemical fertilizer, NP; manure + chemical fertilizer, MNP; and no fertilizer, CK) on bacterial community structure and soil sucrase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activities in Shaping, Hequ, China. High-throughput sequencing was used to amplify the third to the fourth hypervariable region of the 16S ribosomal RNA for analysis of the bacterial community structure. Enzyme activities were determined by colorimetry. Soil treated with MNP had the highest bacterial Abundance-based Coverage Estimator index and enzyme activities. The principal coordinates analysis results showed significant differences among the various fertilization treatments (p < 0.001). Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and Chloroflexi were consistently dominant in all soil samples. The redundancy analysis and Monte Carlo permutation tests showed that the soil bacterial communities were significantly correlated with alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, organic matter, urease, and alkaline phosphatase. Our results reveal the fundamentally different effects that organic and inorganic fertilizers have on soil bacterial communities and their functions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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15 pages, 1308 KiB  
Article
Short-Term Effect of Biochar on Microbial Biomass, Respiration and Enzymatic Activities in Wastewater Irrigated Soils in Urban Agroecosystems of the West African Savannah
by Isaac Asirifi, Steffen Werner, Stefanie Heinze, Courage K. S. Saba, Innocent Y. D. Lawson and Bernd Marschner
Agronomy 2021, 11(2), 271; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020271 - 31 Jan 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4033
Abstract
Irrigated urban agriculture (UA) supports the economy and health of urban inhabitants in low-income countries. This system is often characterized by high nutrient inputs and mostly utilizes wastewater for irrigation. Biochar has been proposed to increase crop yields and improve soil properties. In [...] Read more.
Irrigated urban agriculture (UA) supports the economy and health of urban inhabitants in low-income countries. This system is often characterized by high nutrient inputs and mostly utilizes wastewater for irrigation. Biochar has been proposed to increase crop yields and improve soil properties. In this study, we assessed the transient effect of rice husk biochar (20 t ha−1) and/or fertilizer (NPK: 15-15-15) on microbial respiration, microbial biomass carbon and enzyme activities of irrigated (wastewater and tap water) soil from an UA field experiment in the Guinea savannah zones of Ghana. Our results showed an increase by up to 123% in soil organic carbon (SOC) after a year of biochar application, while hot water extractable carbon (HWEC) was increased by only 11 to 26% and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) by 34%. Basal respiration was significantly increased in mineral fertilized soil by up to 46% but decreased by 12–45% under wastewater irrigation. Overall, the metabolic quotient (qCO2) indicated less stress for the microbial community and increased carbon use efficiency with biochar application and wastewater irrigation. Total enzymes activity was increased under wastewater irrigation and biochar treated soils exhibit a more diverse composition of C-cycling enzymes and a higher activity of aminopeptidases. Biochar and wastewater showed positive effects on biological soil properties and contributed to soil fertility. Our results suggest beneficial effects of biochar on non-biochar SOC stocks in the long term. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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15 pages, 1000 KiB  
Article
Response of Soil Microbes and Soil Enzymatic Activity to 20 Years of Fertilization
by Martina Kracmarova, Hana Kratochvilova, Ondrej Uhlik, Michal Strejcek, Jirina Szakova, Jindrich Cerny, Pavel Tlustos, Jiri Balik, Katerina Demnerova and Hana Stiborova
Agronomy 2020, 10(10), 1542; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101542 - 10 Oct 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4304
Abstract
Fertilization is a worldwide agricultural practice used in agronomy to increase crop yields. Fertilizer application influences overall soil characteristics, including soil microbial community composition and metabolic processes mediated by microbial enzymatic activity. Changes in the structure of microbial communities and their metabolic activity [...] Read more.
Fertilization is a worldwide agricultural practice used in agronomy to increase crop yields. Fertilizer application influences overall soil characteristics, including soil microbial community composition and metabolic processes mediated by microbial enzymatic activity. Changes in the structure of microbial communities and their metabolic activity after long-term fertilization were studied in this research. We hypothesized that the different types of fertilization regimes affect nutrient levels in the soil which subsequently influence the metabolic processes and microbial diversity and community structure. Manure (MF; 330 kg N/ha), sewage sludge at two application doses (SF; 330 kg N/ha and SF3x; 990 kg N/ha) and chemical (NPK; N-P-K nutrients in concentrations of 330-90-300 kg/ha) fertilizers have been applied regularly to an experimental field since 1996. The microbial diversity increased in all soils amended with both organic (MF, SF, SF3x) and chemical (NPK) fertilizers. The shifts in microbial communities were observed, which were mainly caused by less abundant genera that were mostly associated with one or more fertilization treatment(s). Fertilization also influenced soil chemistry and the activity of β-xylosidase, β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), acid phosphatase and FDA-hydrolases. Specifically, all fertilization treatments were associated with a higher activity of β xylosidase and lower NAG activity. Only the NPK treatment was associated with a higher activity of acid phosphatase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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Review

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13 pages, 1585 KiB  
Review
Microbial Biomass Sulphur—An Important Yet Understudied Pool in Soil
by Stefanie Heinze, Michael Hemkemeyer, Sanja Annabell Schwalb, Khalid Saifullah Khan, Rainer Georg Joergensen and Florian Wichern
Agronomy 2021, 11(8), 1606; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11081606 - 12 Aug 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4218
Abstract
Soil microorganisms require a range of essential elements for their optimal functioning and store several elements in the microbial biomass (MB), such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S), as well as other secondary and trace elements. The C, N [...] Read more.
Soil microorganisms require a range of essential elements for their optimal functioning and store several elements in the microbial biomass (MB), such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S), as well as other secondary and trace elements. The C, N and P content of the microbial biomass has been quantified in many studies for many years, whereas S has been the focus only in a few studies, despite the availability of methods and the relevance of MBS for the S turnover in soils. To illustrate the relevance of MBS, this review aims at summarizing the current state of knowledge on the quantities of MBS in different soils, influencing environmental and agricultural management factors, methodological shortcomings, and prospects for soil microbial biomass research. Median MBS contents were 6.0 µg g−1 soil in arable, 7.6 µg g−1 soil in grassland, and 5.7 µg g−1 soil in forest soils. All extractants used led to similar MBS contents in soils with similar soil organic (SO) C contents. MBC and soil pH positively explained MBS, using multiple linear regression analysis. Median MB-C/S ratios increased in the order arable (55), grassland (85), and forest (135) soils. As the overall quantity of MBS data is still small, future studies are required to verify these observations. Moreover, future research needs to more strongly consider stoichiometric relationships of elements in the soil and the soil microbial ionome. The role of S and its complex relationship with the availability of other elements in soils for the soil microbial biomass and its functions remains to be elucidated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling in Agroecosystems)
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