Sixin Xu

Soil microbes play a vital role in tidal flat ecosystems but are highly susceptible to disturbances from land reclamation. This study investigated the dynamics of bacterial communities and their environmental drivers across a 50-year reclamation chronosequence under three vegetation types (bare flats, reed beds, and rice fields). The results showed that, after 50 years of reclamation, total dissolved salts decreased significantly in vegetated zones, particularly in rice fields, where Cl⁻ dropped by 54.71% and nutrients (SOC, TN, TP) increased substantially. Key ions, including HCO₃⁻, Cl⁻, and K⁺, were the primary drivers of microbial community structure, exerting more influence than total salinity (TDS) or pH. Bacterial abundance and diversity increased over time, with rice fields showing the highest values after 50 years. Actinobacteriota and Proteobacteria were positively correlated with HCO₃⁻ and K⁺, while Cl⁻ negatively affected Acidobacteriota. Genus-level analyses revealed that specific taxa, such as Sphingomonas and Gaiella, exhibited ion responses diverging from broader phylum-level patterns, exemplifying niche-specific adaptations to salinity regimes. These findings underscore the pivotal role of vegetation type and individual salinity ions in driving microbial succession during tidal flat reclamation. A phased vegetation strategy, starting with reed colonization and followed by rice cultivation, can enhance soil quality and microbial diversity. This research provides important insights for optimizing vegetation management and ion monitoring in sustainable tidal flat reclamation.

Traditional rice production is often reliant on the unsustainable practice of utilizing intensive inputs in monoculture cropping systems. Alternatives fallow cover cropping and rice–fish coculture (RFC) offer promising solutions. However, the potential of fallow cover cropping in RFC remains underexplored, and its impact on soil microbes is poorly understood. In this study, assessments of soil–plant–microbe interactions were conducted across three cover cropping systems: Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) single cropping (CM), Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) single cropping (RP), and a combination of Chinese milk vetch and rapeseed intercropping (CM_RP). These systems were evaluated with and without nitrogen (N) addition, encompassing both the RFC and rice monoculture (RMC) systems. The findings indicate a notable increase in soil microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) with CM. Soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), influenced more by N-fertilizer than crop species, decreased with N addition. In the RFC system, the soil bacterial co-occurrence network exhibited more connections, yet negative links increased. CM_RP displayed similarities to CM without N but shifted closer to RP with N addition. N addition in intercropping significantly increased the root–shoot ratio (R/S) of A. sinicus, associated with decreased aboveground biomass and total root length. Compared to RMC, RFC with N addition reduced the relative abundance of Anaerolineaceae in CM while increasing Bacillus and Pontibacter across cover cropping systems. Overall, with N addition, both RFC and RMC showed decreased soil bacterial diversity indices. Changes in soil bacterial diversity correlated significantly with soil MBC, MBN, and plant R/S. Continuous fallow cover cropping altered soil microbial biomass and affected cover crop biomass distribution, impacting bacterial composition in paddy soil. These results shed light on how bacterial communities respond to N addition and fallow cover cropping in RFC and RMC systems, offering insights for sustainable nutrient management in paddy systems.

Phytoremediation is an effective and ecological method used to control soil secondary salinization in greenhouses. However, the plant–soil interactions for phytoremediation have not been studied sufficiently. In this study, three crop species (Astragalus sinicus (CM), Spinacea oleracea (SP) and Lolium perenne (RY)) were compared in a greenhouse experiment. The results showed that all three crops increased the soil microbial biomass, the abundance of beneficial microorganisms, available phosphorus and soil pH, and reduced the soil salt content. The crop nutrient accumulation was positively correlated with the relative abundance of bacterial 16S rRNA sequences in the soil. CM and RY respectively increased the relative abundances of norank_f_Gemmatimonadaceae and norank_f_Anaerolineaceae within the soil bacterial community, while SP increased the relative abundances of Gibellulopsis within the fungal community. Correlation analysis revealed that pH and total dissolved salts were the vital factors affecting soil microbial communities in the secondary salinized soil. Our results suggest that phytoremediation could effectively alleviate secondary salinization by regulating the balance of soil microbial community composition and promoting crop nutrient accumulation.

Rice-fish mutualistic production systems rationalise the use of water and soil resources in an improved approach to sustainable food production. However, drivers of fungi community structure in paddy soil, including effects of nitrogen (N) application rate, are unclear in these systems. Here, we assessed soil fungi community and soil physicochemical responses in paddy soil to contrasting rates of N application in a rice-fish system. To clarify the mutualistic effects, the rice-fish system was compared with a standard rice monoculture under a 325.5 kg ha⁻¹ N application rate. The results showed that N application rate affected abundance of paddy soil fungi (P < 0.05). Alpha diversity and richness of fungi were lower in the rice-fish system, but evenness increased with a decrease in N application rate, while the rate of N determined diversity of soil fungi in the rice-fish system. Dominant genera in the two systems differed, and soil physicochemical properties were more important drivers of soil fungi community structure in the rice-fish mutualistic system than in rice monoculture. Total N, available N and P regulated the abundance of dominant fungi. Our results indicate that management of soil fungi may contribute to sustainable agricultural production.