[Effects of different cropping patterns on soil enzyme activities and soil microbial community diversity in oasis...

Effects of long-term cropping patterns on the activities of peroxidase, invertase, arylsulfatase, dehydrogenase and protease were investigated in this paper. Four long-term cropping patterns included (1) 10 years continuous cropping of corn, (2) 8 years continuous cropping of wheat followed by 10 years continuous cropping of cotton, (3) 15 years continuous cropping of cotton, and (4) 6 years continuous cropping of cotton followed by 6 years of wheat/sunflower rotation. The responses of soil bacteria, fungi, ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) , and the ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) to different copping patterns were analyzed. The results showed that cropping patterns significantly affected the activities of soil peroxidase, arylsulfatase, dehydrogenase and protease, while had no significant effect on soil invertase activity. The cropping patterns significantly influenced the diversity index of AOA, but had no significant influence on that of soil bacteria, fungi and AOB. The community structures of soil fungi and AOB were more sensitive to cropping patterns than soil bacteria and AOA. In conclusion, long-term continuous cropping of cotton decreased the activities of soil enzymes activities and soil microbial diversity in oasis farmland, while crop rotation could alleviate the negative influence.