Project: PRJEB21592
Fertiliser application is a large component of agricultural grassland management. The security of global phosphorus (P) stocks is a geopolitical issue and an especially poignant for Europe with no independent supply. There is interest therefore in exploring alternative methods to supplement and optimise agricultural P fertilisation. Soil microorganisms play an integral role in the cycling of P from both inorganic and organic sources, particularly when P is limiting. Aboveground vegetation management (grazing and harvesting in this instance), can influence soil nutrients and potentially fertiliser effectiveness. It is essential to understand long-term soil microbial responses to P fertilisation rates, under varied aboveground management regimes if we are to develop optimised P fertilisation rates. From sampling soil exposed to long-term mineral P (Pi) fertilisation rates typical for temperate agricultural grasslands, we have highlighted the potential impact of intensive aboveground vegetation removal (harvesting) on the belowground soil microbial biomass and microbial community structure. Under a harvesting regime where organic matter return to the soil is restricted, microbial biomass and community structures were unresponsive to long-term Pi fertilisation rates. When organic matter return to soil is not restricted, under grazing however, microbial biomass and copy numbers of a P mineralising gene phoD generally increased with Pi fertilisation rate, accompanied by significant differences in the bacterial, archaeal and fungal community structures, with soil carbon (C): phosphorus (P) ratio revealed as a consistent factor significantly explaining a proportion of the variation within all three microbial datasets. NGS of the bacterial community revealed Acidobacteria was the dominant phylum across the agricultural soils and identified bacterial genera significantly responding to long-term Pi fertilisation under grazing.
Secondary Study Accession:
ERP023861
Study Title:
Microbial community and a phosphorus cycling gene respond differently to long-term phosphorus fertilisation under grazing or cutting in grassland soils
Center Name:
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
Study Name:
Phosphorus fertilisation x aboveground management
ENA-FIRST-PUBLIC:
2017-08-29
ENA-LAST-UPDATE:
2017-06-29
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