A perennial living mulch system fosters a more diverse and balanced soil bacterial community.

ABSTRACT: Cover crops are known to positively impact soil health, both at a physical level (through erosion control and organic matter enhancement) and at a biological level (by fostering more diverse microbial communities). However, most research in this area has been conducted in the context of annual cover crops that are terminated when the main crop is planted. We have previously demonstrated that a continuous "living mulch" cover crop system can enhance the physical and chemical aspects of soil health; In this study, we reveal its effect on the soil bacterial community and compare it to two different annual cover crops and a conventional control without cover crops. We examined the effect of a living-mulch (LM) system using perennial white clover (Trifolium pratense L), annual cereal rye (Secal

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10464973 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature