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Effects of long-term fertilization on contents and distribution of microbial residues within aggregate structures of a clay soil

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of long-term (18 years) fertilization on contents and distributions of amino sugars within aggregate-size fractions of a clay soil (Udolls, USDA Soil Taxonomy System). Treatments included unfertilized control (CK), mineralization fertilization (NP), and application of mineral fertilizers plus pig manure (NPM). Soil samples were collected from the 0–20-cm layer and fractionated to aggregates of different sizes (>2,000 μm, 250–2,000 μm, 53–250 μm, and <53 μm) by wet sieving. Glucosamine (GluN) and muramic acid (MurA) were used as biomarkers for fungal and bacterial residues, respectively. Results showed that NPM significantly increased the concentrations of total amino sugars in all aggregate-size fractions compared with the CK treatment. This occurred concurrently with an increase in mean weight diameter of water-stable aggregates and soil organic C content. Higher concentrations of total amino sugars in macroaggregates (>250 μm) of NPM soils were mainly due to a relatively greater accumulation of GluN over MurA, which suggests that accumulation of fungal residues is important for soil aggregation and organic C storage in the tested soil. By contrast, mineral fertilization was ineffective on soil aggregation and amino sugar accumulation. Furthermore, GluN was relatively enriched in fractions of >250 μm while MurA was generally enriched in the 53–250-μm fraction. This indicates that there are specific mechanisms of fungal and bacterial enrichment in different aggregate-size fractions.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate Professor Paolo Nannipieri and the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments on this paper. This work was financially supported by the fund of Excellent Young Talent, Northeast of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (DLSYQ120002), Science Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZZD-EW-TZ-16-02), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41371295, 41101282).

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  1. Key Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, 150081, People’s Republic of China

    Xueli Ding & Xiaozeng Han

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  1. Xueli Ding
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  2. Xiaozeng Han
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Correspondence to Xueli Ding.

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Ding, X., Han, X. Effects of long-term fertilization on contents and distribution of microbial residues within aggregate structures of a clay soil. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 549–554 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0867-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0867-6

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