Temporal Dynamics of Bacterial Communities along a Gradient of Disturbance in a U.S. Southern Plains Agroecosystem

Land conversion for intensive agriculture produces unfavorable changes to soil ecosystems, causing global concern. Soil bacterial communities mediate essential terrestrial ecosystem processes, making it imperative to understand their responses to agricultural perturbations. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing coupled with a functional gene array to study temporal dynamics of soil bacterial communities over 1 year under different disturbance intensities across a U.S. Southern Plains agroecosystem, including tallgrass prairie, Old World bluestem pasture, no-tillage (NT) canola, and conventional tillage (CT) wheat. Land use had the greatest impact on bacterial taxonomic diversity, whereas sampling time and its interaction with land use were central to functional diversity differences. The main drivers of taxonomic diversity were tillage > sampling time > temperature, while all measured factors explained similar amounts of variations in functional diversity. Temporal differences had the strongest correlation with total nitrogen > rainfall > nitrate. Within land uses, community variations for CT wheat were attributed to nitrogen levels, whereas soil organic matter and soil water content explained community variations for NT canola. In comparison, all measured factors contributed almost equally to variations in grassland bacterial communities. Finally, functional diversity had a stronger relationship with taxonomic diversity for CT wheat compared to phylogenetic diversity in the prairie. These findings reinforce that tillage management has the greatest impact on bacterial community diversity, with sampling time also critical. Hence, our study highlights the importance of the interaction between temporal dynamics and land use in influencing soil microbiomes, providing support for reducing agricultural disturbance to conserve soil biodiversity. IMPORTANCE Agricultural sustainability relies on healthy soils and microbial diversity. Agricultural management alters soil conditions and further influences the temporal dynamics of soil microbial communities essential to ecosystem functions, including organic matter dynamics, nutrient cycling, and plant nutrient availability. Yet, the responses to agricultural management are also dependent on soil type and climatic region, emphasizing the importance of assessing sustainability at local scales. To evaluate the impact of agricultural management practices, we examined bacterial communities across a management disturbance gradient over 1 year in a U.S. Southern Plains agroecosystem and determined that intensive management disturbance and sampling time critically impacted bacterial structural diversity, while their interactive effect influenced functional diversity and other soil health indicators. Overall, this study provides insights into how reducing soil disturbance can positively impact microbial community diversity and soil properties in the U.S. Southern Plains.