Land-use legacies shape soil microbial communities and nutrient cycling functions in rotational shifting cultivation fields of Northern Thailand.

ABSTRACT: How land-use history-particularly in contrasting systems such as rotational shifting cultivation (RSC) and continuously fallow (CF) fields-influences soil microbial communities and their biogeochemical functions remains insufficiently understood. In this study, shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to compare the taxonomic composition and functional gene profiles of soils under RSC and CF systems in Northern Thailand. The results revealed distinct microbial assemblages and metabolic potentials shaped by land-use legacy. RSC soils were characterized by a higher abundance of nitrifiers and nitrogen-fixing taxa, including Nitrosocosmicus and Streptomyces, along with enriched genes involved in nitrification (e.g., amoC_B, nxrB) and nitrogen fixation (nifD, nifK), reflecting an enhanced poten

SUBMITTER: Arunrat N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12491100 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature