Microbial communities and their association with soil health indicators under row cash crop and cover crop diversification: a case study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Crop diversification is an emerging approach for increasing soil health and agroecosystem sustainability. By diversifying residue inputs to soils, plant diversity can increase microbial community diversity and function, foster arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) relationships, and limit plant vulnerability to pathogens. However, crop diversification approaches are usually limited in plant species diversity, for example adding one or two species as a cover crop or cash crops in rotation.

Methods

We implemented a four-year field experiment combining two crop diversification strategies (cover cropping and crop rotation) on a silt loam soil in western Tennessee, USA, to determine influences on soil microbial community diversity and composition, and their association

SUBMITTER: Wooliver R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12515911 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature