Interspecific interactions between crops influence soil functional groups and networks in a maize/soybean intercropping system

Guizong Zhang; Hao Yang; Weiping Zhang; T. Martijn Bezemer; Wenju Liang; Qi Li; Long Li

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2023.108595

Interspecific interactions between crops influence soil functional groups and networks in a maize/soybean intercropping system

Guizong Zhang, Hao Yang, Weiping Zhang, T. Martijn Bezemer, Wenju Liang^* (Corresponding author), Qi Li^* (Corresponding author), Long Li^* (Corresponding author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Terrestrial Ecology (TE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

Despite increasing evidence that intercropping systems may increase crop productivity, little is known about whether and how soil biota change under interspecific competition among plants. A field experiment with maize/soybean intercropping and the corresponding monoculture systems was conducted under four nitrogen fertilization regimes to investigate the effects of interspecific plant interactions on grain yield, soil properties (β-glucosidase and water-soluble carbohydrates), and biotic communities (bacteria, fungi, and nematodes). The soils under maize and soybean in the intercropping system were sampled separately to represent intercropped maize and intercropped soybean, respectively. Compared to monocultures, the complexity and robustness of soil networks comprising bacterial, fungal, and nematode communities increased in intercropped maize soils, but densities of plant parasitic nematodes and β-glucosidase activity were reduced. Intercropped soybean soils had lower C availability due to chronic shading by maize, but a significant increase was found in saprophytic fungi, and plant parasitic nematodes compared to soybean monoculture soils. Although intercropped soybean suffered from interspecific competition with maize, the interactions within the fungal community increased for both crop species in the intercropping system. Our study demonstrates that increased carbon uptake in maize due to increased light capture in the intercropping system can facilitate nutrient cycling by altering the abundance of functional groups of soil organisms, such as saprophytic fungi, and enhancing network complexity and stability. We detected a trade-off between productivity and soil nematode diversity in the intercropping system under nitrogen fertilization, the yield of maize increased but soil nematode richness decreased at low nitrogen level, while the yield of soybean decreased but the nematode richness increased at high nitrogen level. These findings show that both trade-offs and benefits occur in intercropping systems and highlight the role of plant-soil biota interactions in such systems.

Original language	English
Article number	108595
Journal	Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Volume	355
Early online date	19 May 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108595
Publication status	Published - 01 Oct 2023

Keywords

Biotic network
Crop diversity
Intercropping system
Interspecific competition
Interspecific facilitation
Nitrogen fertilization

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title = "Interspecific interactions between crops influence soil functional groups and networks in a maize/soybean intercropping system",

abstract = "Despite increasing evidence that intercropping systems may increase crop productivity, little is known about whether and how soil biota change under interspecific competition among plants. A field experiment with maize/soybean intercropping and the corresponding monoculture systems was conducted under four nitrogen fertilization regimes to investigate the effects of interspecific plant interactions on grain yield, soil properties (β-glucosidase and water-soluble carbohydrates), and biotic communities (bacteria, fungi, and nematodes). The soils under maize and soybean in the intercropping system were sampled separately to represent intercropped maize and intercropped soybean, respectively. Compared to monocultures, the complexity and robustness of soil networks comprising bacterial, fungal, and nematode communities increased in intercropped maize soils, but densities of plant parasitic nematodes and β-glucosidase activity were reduced. Intercropped soybean soils had lower C availability due to chronic shading by maize, but a significant increase was found in saprophytic fungi, and plant parasitic nematodes compared to soybean monoculture soils. Although intercropped soybean suffered from interspecific competition with maize, the interactions within the fungal community increased for both crop species in the intercropping system. Our study demonstrates that increased carbon uptake in maize due to increased light capture in the intercropping system can facilitate nutrient cycling by altering the abundance of functional groups of soil organisms, such as saprophytic fungi, and enhancing network complexity and stability. We detected a trade-off between productivity and soil nematode diversity in the intercropping system under nitrogen fertilization, the yield of maize increased but soil nematode richness decreased at low nitrogen level, while the yield of soybean decreased but the nematode richness increased at high nitrogen level. These findings show that both trade-offs and benefits occur in intercropping systems and highlight the role of plant-soil biota interactions in such systems.",

keywords = "Biotic network, Crop diversity, Intercropping system, Interspecific competition, Interspecific facilitation, Nitrogen fertilization",

author = "Guizong Zhang and Hao Yang and Weiping Zhang and Bezemer, {T. Martijn} and Wenju Liang and Qi Li and Long Li",

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T1 - Interspecific interactions between crops influence soil functional groups and networks in a maize/soybean intercropping system

AU - Zhang, Guizong

AU - Yang, Hao

AU - Zhang, Weiping

AU - Bezemer, T. Martijn

AU - Liang, Wenju

AU - Li, Qi

AU - Li, Long

N1 - Data archiving: on request

PY - 2023/10/1

Y1 - 2023/10/1

N2 - Despite increasing evidence that intercropping systems may increase crop productivity, little is known about whether and how soil biota change under interspecific competition among plants. A field experiment with maize/soybean intercropping and the corresponding monoculture systems was conducted under four nitrogen fertilization regimes to investigate the effects of interspecific plant interactions on grain yield, soil properties (β-glucosidase and water-soluble carbohydrates), and biotic communities (bacteria, fungi, and nematodes). The soils under maize and soybean in the intercropping system were sampled separately to represent intercropped maize and intercropped soybean, respectively. Compared to monocultures, the complexity and robustness of soil networks comprising bacterial, fungal, and nematode communities increased in intercropped maize soils, but densities of plant parasitic nematodes and β-glucosidase activity were reduced. Intercropped soybean soils had lower C availability due to chronic shading by maize, but a significant increase was found in saprophytic fungi, and plant parasitic nematodes compared to soybean monoculture soils. Although intercropped soybean suffered from interspecific competition with maize, the interactions within the fungal community increased for both crop species in the intercropping system. Our study demonstrates that increased carbon uptake in maize due to increased light capture in the intercropping system can facilitate nutrient cycling by altering the abundance of functional groups of soil organisms, such as saprophytic fungi, and enhancing network complexity and stability. We detected a trade-off between productivity and soil nematode diversity in the intercropping system under nitrogen fertilization, the yield of maize increased but soil nematode richness decreased at low nitrogen level, while the yield of soybean decreased but the nematode richness increased at high nitrogen level. These findings show that both trade-offs and benefits occur in intercropping systems and highlight the role of plant-soil biota interactions in such systems.

AB - Despite increasing evidence that intercropping systems may increase crop productivity, little is known about whether and how soil biota change under interspecific competition among plants. A field experiment with maize/soybean intercropping and the corresponding monoculture systems was conducted under four nitrogen fertilization regimes to investigate the effects of interspecific plant interactions on grain yield, soil properties (β-glucosidase and water-soluble carbohydrates), and biotic communities (bacteria, fungi, and nematodes). The soils under maize and soybean in the intercropping system were sampled separately to represent intercropped maize and intercropped soybean, respectively. Compared to monocultures, the complexity and robustness of soil networks comprising bacterial, fungal, and nematode communities increased in intercropped maize soils, but densities of plant parasitic nematodes and β-glucosidase activity were reduced. Intercropped soybean soils had lower C availability due to chronic shading by maize, but a significant increase was found in saprophytic fungi, and plant parasitic nematodes compared to soybean monoculture soils. Although intercropped soybean suffered from interspecific competition with maize, the interactions within the fungal community increased for both crop species in the intercropping system. Our study demonstrates that increased carbon uptake in maize due to increased light capture in the intercropping system can facilitate nutrient cycling by altering the abundance of functional groups of soil organisms, such as saprophytic fungi, and enhancing network complexity and stability. We detected a trade-off between productivity and soil nematode diversity in the intercropping system under nitrogen fertilization, the yield of maize increased but soil nematode richness decreased at low nitrogen level, while the yield of soybean decreased but the nematode richness increased at high nitrogen level. These findings show that both trade-offs and benefits occur in intercropping systems and highlight the role of plant-soil biota interactions in such systems.

KW - Biotic network

KW - Crop diversity

KW - Intercropping system

KW - Interspecific competition

KW - Interspecific facilitation

KW - Nitrogen fertilization

U2 - 10.1016/j.agee.2023.108595

DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2023.108595

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85159566462

SN - 0167-8809

VL - 355

JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment

M1 - 108595

ER -

Interspecific interactions between crops influence soil functional groups and networks in a maize/soybean intercropping system

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Keywords

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