Perennial vegetative strips promote spillover of beneficial soil microorganisms into adjacent crop field

Perennial vegetative strips (PVS) are increasingly integrated into agricultural landscapes to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, their below-ground influence, particularly the extent to which they affect soil microbial communities in adjacent crop fields, remains poorly understood. We analysed microbial responses across distance gradients from perennial vegetative strips into crop fields, considering microbial taxonomic and trophic groups. We investigated the effects of PVS on microbial biomass, abundance, diversity, and community composition of soil bacteria, fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) along transects into the neighboring crop field across five fields. Microbial biomass declined with increasing distance, a pattern strongly driven by AMF. The abundance of AMF, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, photosynthetic cyanobacteria, photoautotrophic bacteria, and root endophytes in soil significantly decreased with distance from PVS, suggesting that diverse perennial vegetation promotes these beneficial groups. PVS suppressed neither bacterial nor fungal pathogens while promoting more even microbial communities, enhancing resistance against pathogen invasion. These findings indicate that perennial vegetative strips act as reservoirs of beneficial soil microorganisms that spill over into neighboring crop fields. By promoting functionally important microbial groups without increasing pathogen abundance, PVS may contribute to improved soil functioning and resilience in agricultural landscapes.