Effects of Multi-Species Microbial Inoculants on Early Wheat Growth and Litterbag Microbial Activity

Abstract

The use of microbial consortia (MC) with complementing features is considered to be a promising method of sustainable crop intensification, potentially trumping the limited performance of single-strain applications. We assessed the effect of two novel MC on early wheat growth and litterbag microbial activity in heated and unheated soil. Pot experiments were carried out in duplicate in a greenhouse over 63 days using a completely randomized design with six replications. A range of parameters of plant growth and nutrient uptake were regularly assessed and statistically analyzed by ANOVA. The litterbag-NIRS method was used to trace the microbial activity. Averaged over both trials, soil heating resulted in a significant increase in shoot biomass (+53%) and subsequent nitrogen uptake (+307 mg N pot−1) but strongly reduced root development (−46%) compared with unheated soil. The application of MC had no effect on wheat growth in the heated soil. By contrast, in the unheated soil, shoot (+12%) and root (+15%) biomass and shoot nitrogen uptake (+11%) were significantly increased after double inoculation with MC compared with autoclaved MC. The litterbag-NIRS method confirmed clear effects of soil heating on microbial activity. Differences between MC application and the control were noted, indicating a buffering effect of MC.