Early response of soil fungal communities to the conversion of monoculture cropland to a temperate agroforestry system.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alley-cropping systems in the temperate zone are a type of agroforestry in which rows of fast-growing trees are alternated with rows of annual crops. With numerous environmental benefits, temperate agroforestry is considered a promising alternative to conventional agriculture and soil fungi may play a key in maintaining productivity of these systems. Agroforestry systems that are established for more than 10 years have shown to increase the fungal biomass and impact the composition of soil fungal communities. Investigations of soil fungi in younger temperate agroforestry systems are scarce and the temporal dynamic of these changes is not understood.

Methods

Our study was conducted in a young poplar-based alley cropping and adjacent monoculture cropland system in a

SUBMITTER: Beule L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8500075 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature