The Fungal and Protist Community as Affected by Tillage, Crop Residue Burning and N Fertilizer Application

Summary

This study examined how three agronomic practices—tillage, crop residue burning, and nitrogen fertilisation—shape fungal and protist communities in a long-running maize-wheat trial in Mexico's Yaqui Valley. Although overall microbial diversity and community composition were resilient to these interventions, specific fungal guilds responded significantly, with plant pathogens and undefined saprotrophs increasing under tillage, and plant pathogens rising with residue burning. These guild-level shifts may have implications for soil organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and crop health despite the apparent stability of broader community metrics.

UK applicability

The findings may have limited direct applicability to UK cereal systems, given the arid/semi-arid Mexican climate and soil conditions of the Yaqui Valley differ substantially from typical UK temperate soils. However, the observation that fungal guilds respond selectively to tillage and residue management practices could inform UK conservation agriculture or organic transition strategies if comparable long-term trials were conducted under British conditions.

Key measures

Fungal and protist alpha diversity (Hill numbers); fungal and protist community structure; relative abundance of functional guilds (plant pathogens, saprotrophs, dung-plant and dung-soil saprotrophs) determined by FUNGuildR

Outcomes reported

The study characterised fungal and protist community composition and diversity in soil subjected to different combinations of tillage, crop residue burning, and nitrogen fertiliser application rates in a long-term maize-wheat field trial. Whilst overall community structure and alpha diversity were unaffected by these practices, specific fungal guilds showed significant responses.

Topic tags