Despite conservation tillage being a promising strategy to mitigate soil degradation, the intricate role of microbial communities in shaping soil quality over long-term tillage remains poorly understood. The study aimed to investigate the microbial mechanisms governing the soil quality index (SQI) and maize yield under different tillage practices spanning 13 years, including no-till without straw retention (NT0), no-till with straw retention (NTSR), plough tillage with straw retention (PTSR), and rotary tillage with straw retention (RTSR). The findings revealed that NTSR improved the SQI index by 22.4% and 11.3% higher than PTSR and RTSR, respectively, within the 0–10 cm soil layer. This improvement was correlated with an increase in maize yield (R² = 0.39, p < 0.05). PERMANOVA analysis confirmed that both soil depth and tillage practices significantly impacted the composition of microbial communities (p < 0.05). Furthermore, conservation tillage, compared to PTSR and RTSR, increased the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis by 78.6%–460.3% but decreased the saprophytic fungal abundance by 27.5%–28.3%. Soil quality was notably influenced by the interaction between bacterial and fungal communities. The presence of bacterial-dominated Module 2 was associated with decreased soil quality in the 0–10 cm soil depth (r = −0.47, p < 0.01). This study emphasizes the pivotal role of microbial diversity and dominant taxa in driving soil quality after long-term conservation tillage practices. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for establishing farmland management to achieve agricultural and ecological sustainability in the face of climate change and soil degradation challenges.

中文翻译：

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土壤质量与不同耕作方法中的微生物群落特征和优势类群相关


尽管保护性耕作是减轻土壤退化的一种有前景的策略，但微生物群落在长期耕作中塑造土壤质量的复杂作用仍然知之甚少。该研究旨在调查13年来不同耕作方式下控制土壤质量指数（SQI）和玉米产量的微生物机制，包括免耕不留秸秆（NT0）、免耕留秸秆（NTSR）、犁耕秸秆保留（PTSR）和秸秆保留旋耕（RTSR）。研究结果显示，在 0-10 cm 土层内，NTSR 比 PTSR 和 RTSR 分别提高了 SQI 指数 22.4% 和 11.3%。这种改善与玉米产量的增加相关（ R ² = 0.39， p < 0.05）。 PERMANOVA 分析证实，土壤深度和耕作方法均显着影响微生物群落的组成 ( p < 0.05)。此外，与PTSR和RTSR相比，保护性耕作使丛枝菌根共生丰度增加了78.6%~460.3%，但腐生真菌丰度降低了27.5%~28.3%。土壤质量显着受到细菌和真菌群落之间相互作用的影响。以细菌为主的模块 2 的存在与 0-10 厘米土壤深度的土壤质量下降有关（ r = -0.47， p < 0.01）。这项研究强调了微生物多样性和优势类群在长期保护性耕作实践后驱动土壤质量方面的关键作用。 了解这些机制对于建立农田管理以在面临气候变化和土壤退化挑战时实现农业和生态可持续性至关重要。