Mitigating continuous cropping challenges in alkaline soils: The role of biochar in enhancing soil health, microbial dynamics, and pepper productivity

作者：Wangwang Xu, Hongbing Li, Qianqian Ma, Qiang Dong, Jingxia Gao, Fengbao Zhang, Hualin Xie · 发表于：Industrial Crops and Products · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.121576 · 被引用次数：15 · 研究领域：Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Agricultural Science and Fertilization

Long-term continuous cropping of pepper has led to a decline in soil quality and an increase in pests and diseases, severely constraining yield and fruit quality. Biochar, a soil amendment with multiple regulatory functions, has been widely used to improve soil conditions. However, its potential mechanisms for mitigating continuous cropping obstacles and its long-term effects in alkaline soils remain insufficiently elucidated. In this study, a two-year field experiment was conducted in Ningxia, China, evaluating five biochar application rates (0 %, 0.5 %, 1 %, 2 %, and 4 %) to comprehensively assess its impacts on plant physiological traits, soil nutrient status, and microbial community dynamics under continuous cropping conditions. Results showed that moderate biochar application (2 %) elicited the most pronounced benefits in the second year, significantly enhancing soil organic matter (by 46.5 %), available potassium (43.0 %), available phosphorus (57.7 %), root activity (159.0 %), microbial biomass carbon (131.1 %), and microbial biomass phosphorus (133.0 %). Concurrently, it decreased soil pH (by 3.3 %), root hydrogen peroxide levels (34.3 %), and proline content (31.4 %). At the microbial level, biochar amendment substantially increased the abundance of Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas , suppressed populations of Acidobacteria and Fusarium , and promoted greater richness and complexity within bacterial and fungal co-occurrence networks. Correlation analyses identified availa...