Summary
This nine-year field experiment in the North China Plain examined how three irrigation regimes for winter wheat affect soil quality through changes in microbial community composition and function in both rhizosphere and bulk soil. Optimised irrigation (I3: 225 mm total across three growth stages) maximised soil quality by enriching beneficial bacteria and enhancing functional genes involved in nutrient cycling, whereas both under-irrigation (I2) and excessive irrigation (I4) reduced soil quality—the latter by increasing pathogenic fungi. The findings suggest that irrigation management can be leveraged to optimise soil microbial functioning and quality in intensive cereal systems.
Regional applicability
This study is based in the North China Plain and addresses cereal-based double-cropping systems typical of that region. Direct applicability to United Kingdom arable systems is limited due to differences in climate, cropping patterns (primarily single-crop rotations rather than intensive wheat–maize), and soil conditions; however, the mechanistic insights regarding irrigation-driven changes in soil microbial communities and pathogen dynamics may be relevant for UK winter wheat production under future climate scenarios with variable water availability.
Key measures
Soil quality index (SQI); bacterial and fungal diversity and community composition; abundance of beneficial taxa (Phyllobacterium, Nitrospira); genes for nitrogen fixation, cellulose, chitin and hemicellulose decomposition; soil C:N ratio; pathogen abundance; structural equation modelling of irrigation effects on microbial communities and SQI
Outcomes reported
The study measured soil quality indices, bacterial and fungal community composition, microbial functional genes, and co-occurrence networks across rhizosphere and bulk soil under three irrigation regimes in a winter wheat–summer maize double-cropping system. Key findings indicated that optimised irrigation (I3) increased soil quality by 6–16% through reshaping microbial communities and enhancing nitrogen fixation and organic matter decomposition genes.
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