The Effect of Crop Diversification and Season on Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency Across a European Pedoclimatic Gradient

作者：Julia Schroeder, Alexander König, Christopher Poeplau, Tobias Bölscher, Katharina Meurer, Monika Toleikienė, Marjoleine Hanegraaf, Annelein Meisner, J. Hakl, Katharina Keiblinger, Abad Chabbi, Marjetka Suhadolc, Anton Govednik, Erich Inselsbacher, Heike Knicker, Laura Gismero Rodríguez, Anke M. Herrmann · 发表于：European Journal of Soil Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/ejss.70078 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Bioenergy crop production and management、Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact

ABSTRACT Microbial transformation of soil organic matter plays a critical role in carbon (C) cycling making it essential to understand how land use and management practices influence microbial physiology and its connection to C dynamics. One factor that is likely to impact soil microbial physiology is crop diversification via its influence on belowground diversity (e.g., chemical heterogeneity of C inputs, microbial community composition). However, the effect of crop diversification measures on microbial physiology and potential effects on C cycling in agricultural soils is still unclear. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled topsoil from eight experimental sites covering different crop diversification measures across Europe (i.e., cover crops, ley farming, vegetation stripes). We used the 18 O‐labelling method to analyse microbial C use efficiency (CUE), growth, respiration and biomass C. Additionally, a second sampling at five selected sites examined whether the growing season influenced the impact of crop diversification. Meta‐analysis revealed no overall effect of crop diversification on CUE, microbial activity, biomass or soil organic C (SOC). However, the effects varied with the type of diversification measure: cover crops did not affect carbon processing, vegetation stripes increased microbial activity, and ley farming enhanced CUE. The largest variation in CUE was observed between samplings at the same sites, indicating seasonal dynamics. Temperature, precipitatio...