Seasonal dynamics of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria but not archaea influence soil nitrogen cycling in a semi-arid agricultural soil.

ABSTRACT: Nitrification, a key pathway of nitrogen (N) loss from agricultural soils, is performed by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA). We examined the seasonal dynamics (2 years) of ammonia oxidizer gene abundances across a gradient of soil carbon (C) and N in a semi-arid soil after 8 years of tillage and crop residue treatments. AOB was more dominant than AOA in the surface soil, as AOA were undetected in 96% of samples. Seasonal variation in AOB abundance was related to substrate availability; AOB gene copy numbers increased at the end of the growing season (during summer fallow) following higher concentrations in dissolved organic matter soil water. This suggests increased co-location between AOB and substrate resources in pores still filled with water as the soils dried. AOB wa

SUBMITTER: Fisk LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9068766 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature