Effects of Different Cropping Patterns on Soil Microbial Community and Function in Ningxia Irrigation-Silted Soil

Area of Science:

• Soil microbiology
• Agroecosystem analysis
• Microbial ecology

Background:

• Irrigation-silted soils in Ningxia are vital agroecosystems.
• Understanding agricultural impacts on soil microbiome diversity is crucial but underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how vegetable and maize cultivation affect soil bacterial and fungal communities compared to uncultivated land.
• To identify distinct microbial biomarkers and functional shifts under different land-use types.

Main Methods:

• Full-length amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA (bacteria) and ITS (fungi).
• Comparative analysis of soil microbial communities across vegetable fields, maize fields, and wasteland control.

Main Results:

• Cropping patterns significantly altered microbial alpha diversity, with opposite trends for bacteria (higher in vegetable fields) and fungi (higher in maize fields).
• Bacterial and fungal community structures differed significantly among land-use types.
• Distinct biomarkers were identified, with vegetable fields favoring *Fusarium* and maize fields supporting *Pseudomonadota* and saprotrophic fungi.
• Functional predictions indicated enhanced sulfur oxidation and cellulose decomposition in vegetable soils, and broader metabolic activity with enriched arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in maize soils.

Conclusions:

• Agricultural management practices act as selective forces shaping soil microbial communities and functions.
• Findings provide a basis for sustainable management strategies to maintain soil health in agroecosystems.