Cropping practices manipulate abundance patterns of root and soil microbiome members paving the way to smart farming

Summary

This field experiment demonstrates that conventional versus organic management and tillage intensity significantly structure soil and root microbiomes in wheat, albeit explaining only ~10% of total microbial variation. Soil bacterial communities were primarily shaped by tillage practice, whilst soil fungal communities responded mainly to management type; root bacterial composition followed management-driven patterns, whereas root fungi responded to tillage. The authors identify taxonomically diverse, cropping-sensitive microbes—including influential hub taxa—as potential targets for future microbiota management strategies in precision agriculture.

UK applicability

The findings are directly relevant to UK arable practice, given the prevalence of both conventional and organic wheat production and varying tillage approaches. Understanding how UK-specific soil types, climate, and management intensities structure microbiomes would require complementary research under British conditions, though the methodological framework and identified microbe guilds provide a foundation for domestically targeted microbiota management.

Key measures

Microbial richness and community composition (bacterial and fungal) in soil and wheat roots; proportion of variation in microbiota explained by cropping practices; taxonomic and co-occurrence patterns of cropping-sensitive microbes

Outcomes reported

The study characterised soil and wheat root microbial communities across conventional and organic management systems with different tillage intensities, quantifying how cropping practices structure bacterial and fungal community composition. Approximately 10% of variation in microbial communities was explained by the tested cropping practices, with cropping-sensitive microbes responding in taxonomically diverse guilds to specific management approaches.

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