Response of soil chemical properties, enzyme activities and microbial communities to biochar application and climate change in a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Changing climatic conditions (warming and decreasing precipitation) have been found to be a threat to the agricultural sustainability of Mediterranean croplands. From the climate change perspective, biochar amendment may interact with the effects of warming and drought stresses on soil ecosystems. However, the responses of soil microbial communities to the joint effects of climate change and biochar in Mediterranean croplands are not sufficiently known. To help fill this knowledge gap, in this work we used a field experiment to determine the effects of partial rain exclusion alone or combined with a soil temperature increase in biochar-amended (20 t ha) and unamended plots under crop rotation on soil chemical properties, enzyme activities, and the microbial community activity, structure, composition, abundance, and functions. The biomass, composition, and activity of the soil bacterial and fungal communities were more responsive to biochar addition than to climate manipulation. Thus, soil chemical parameters, enzyme activities and the relative abundances of bacterial populations were not responsive to the interaction of biochar and climate manipulation, while the predicted functionality of the bacterial community was modified by both factors. Soil β-glucosidase activity significantly decreased in response to biochar addition and climate manipulation, while urease activity was significantly increased by biochar, and protease activity was significantly decreased by climate manipulation. Gram negative and fungal biomasses were significantly affected by the interaction of biochar with climate manipulation. Climate manipulation produced changes in the composition of the soil fungal community without loss of diversity. This study illustrates how the interactions between biochar amendment and future climate change scenarios influence microbially-driven ecosystem services related to the maintenance of nutrient cycles and biodiversity in a Mediterranean agroecosystem.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Moreno-Ortego, Jose Luis, Bastida, F., Díaz-López, Marta, Yunkai, Li, López Mondejar, Rubén, Benavente-Ferraces, Iria, Rojas, Roxana, Rey Simó, Ana, García-Gil, Juan C., Plaza de Carlos, César
Other Authors:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Published:	Elsevier 2022-02-01
Subjects:	Climate change, Soil warming, Rain reduction, Soil microbial community, Biochar amendement, Crop land, Soil enzyme activities, Agroecosystems, http://metadata.un.org/sdg/13, Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/264172 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000780 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003329 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003339 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004837
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