Long-term greenhouse cultivation reduces the support of microbial diversity and network complexity to soil multifunctionality

Summary

This comparative field study examined how four decades of continuous greenhouse cultivation affects soil ecosystem functioning in Ningxia, China, with particular focus on microbial community structure and network interactions. Long-term greenhouse practice increased soil organic carbon and nutrient content but reduced overall soil multifunctionality through salt accumulation, nutrient limitation, and progressive simplification of microbial interaction networks. The work demonstrates that network complexity and stability—driven by diverse microbial interactions—are critical mediators between microbial community composition and soil ecological services.

UK applicability

Findings may have limited direct applicability to UK horticultural systems, which typically operate under different climatic and management regimes; however, the mechanistic insights into how intensive cultivation affects soil microbial network stability and multifunctionality could inform sustainable intensification strategies in UK glasshouse production and inform soil health monitoring protocols.

Key measures

Soil organic carbon, total nutrient content, salt stress indicators, enzyme activity, bacterial diversity (Acidobacteria, Planctomycetes), fungal diversity (Ascomycota, Basidiomycota), protist diversity (Ciliophora, Cercozoa), microbial co-occurrence network complexity and stability, soil multifunctionality index, crop yield

Outcomes reported

The study assessed soil multifunctionality (calculated from 18 indicators including chemical properties, enzyme activity, microbial diversity, and crop yield) across three long-term greenhouse sites (40, 35, and 20 years old) and adjacent open cropland controls. It measured changes in microbial community composition, co-occurrence network complexity, and their relationships to soil ecosystem functions under prolonged greenhouse cultivation.

Topic tags