Microbial C/N metabolic capabilities contribute to the fate of crop residue N in plant-soil-microbe continuum over multiple seasons
The mineralization of crop residue-nitrogen (N) is important for sustainable N supply to subsequent crops. However, the microbial mechanisms regarding residue-N mineralization over growth seasons are still unclear. We amended <sup>15</sup>N-labelled maize and soybean residues to a Mollisol soil and found that, after three growth seasons, soybean plants utilized 43% and 37% of soybean and maize residue-N, respectively. Approximately 10.5% of soybean and 18.6% of maize residue-N were recovered in the labile N pools in soil. Over time, 82% of soybean residue-N was mineralized compared with 66% for maize residue-N. Greater increases in abundances of microbial functional genes involved in organic C decomposition, N mineralization, N<sub>2</sub> fixation, and denitrification were observed in the soybean residue compared to the maize residue treatment. The study implies that soybean residue amendment may lower fertilizer N input more effectively than maize residue, considering the N balance between crop demand and soil supply in farming Mollisols.
Authors
- Judong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2837-6048)
- Caixian Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9138-8770)
- Jian Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8586-0429)
- Stephen Herbert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4923-8445)
- Zhihuang Xie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3193-9953)
- Zhenhua Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5312-1258)
- Yansheng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3184-142X)
- Xiaobing Liu
- Junjiang Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6438-6836)
- Junjie Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3304-8780)
- Guanghua Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4737-8126)
Institutions
- La Trobe University (AU)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN)
- Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology (CN)
- Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112499
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.81
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province
- Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
- Australian Research Council