Long-Term Amelioration Practices Reshape the Soil Microbiome in a Coastal Saline Soil and Alter the Richness and Vertical Distribution Differently Among Bacterial, Archaeal, and Fungal Communities.

Summary

This field study examined how soil amelioration techniques—freezing saline water irrigation, plastic mulching, and their combination—reshape microbial communities in coastal saline soils. The practices differentially affected archaea (decreased richness), bacteria (increased richness), and fungi (little change), whilst promoting heterotrophic functional capacity and weakening deterministic processes structuring the microbiome. The findings provide insights into microbe-mediated soil recovery mechanisms relevant to saline soil remediation strategies.

Regional applicability

This study was conducted in China and addresses coastal saline soil conditions common in East Asia. The findings may have limited direct applicability to United Kingdom agriculture, where soil salinity is not a major constraint except in specific coastal or artificially salinised contexts; however, the mechanistic understanding of how physical interventions reshape soil microbiomes could inform broader soil remediation practices in the UK.

Key measures

Archaeal, bacterial, and fungal richness and diversity; community composition and assembly processes; functional prediction; β-null deviation analysis; vertical distribution of microbial communities

Outcomes reported

The study assessed how freezing saline water irrigation, plastic mulching, and their combination altered the composition, diversity, and ecological functions of archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities in coastal saline soil using high-throughput sequencing. Changes in richness, vertical distribution, and functional profiles across microbial groups were quantified.

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