Effects of intercropping grass on SOM.pdf

Effects of intercropping grasses on soil organic carbon and microbial community functional diversity under Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.) stands Jiasen WuA,B,*, Haiping LinA,C,*, Cifu MengB, Penkun JiangB, and Weijun FuB,C AThe Nurturing Station for the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Zhejiang A F University, Lin0an 311300, China. BZhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Carbon Cycling in Forest Ecosystems and Carbon Sequestration, Zhejiang A F University, Lin0an 311300, China. CCorresponding authors. Emails: fuweijun@;163.com Abstract. Chinese hickory (Carya cathayensis Sarg.) is a woody nut and oil tree from China. Intensive management including heavy application of chemical fertiliser and long-term application of herbicides has resulted in serious soil loss and degradation. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that intercropping in the soil under Chinese hickory stands may improve soil fertility and microbial community functional diversity. A field experiment consisting of four treatments (clean tillage; intercropping rape (Brassica rapa L.), ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) or Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) was conducted to study the effects of intercropping on soil organic carbon (SOC) structure and microbial community functional diversity under C. cathayensis stand, by means of 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and EcoPlates incubated at 258C. After 4 years of treatment, intercropping increased available nitrogen (N), phosphorus and potassium in the soil by 25.1–54.2, 4.2–6.0 and 0–22.5mg kg–1, respectively, relative to the clean tillage treatment; intercropping rape, ryegrass and Chinese milk vetch increased SOC, microbial biomass C (MBC), and water-soluble organic C (WOC) by 23.1–24.7, 138.6–159.7 and 56.2–69.5% (P 0.05), respectively. The structure of SOC was also greatly changed by intercropping treatments. Intercropping increased carbonyl C by 29.9–36.9% (P 0.05) and decreased alkyl C, O-alkyl C an