Effects of Different Organic Amendments on Soil Improvement, Bacterial Composition, and Functional Diversity in Saline–Sodic Soil

Abstract

The agricultural productivity of farmland in Northeast China’s Liaohe Plain is restricted by the salinity and sodicity of the soils, which have additionally low organic matter content. In order to improve saline–sodic soils, organic amendments are frequently applied. Our objective was to clarify how different organic amendments affect the diversity and composition of soil microbes, as well as how these factors are related to crop yield. In 2020–2021, we conducted an experiment with different organic amendments. The treatments included the application of crop residue incorporation (SR), lignite humic acid (LHA; 6 ton/ha), or cow manure (FM; 30 ton/ha), and a control (CK). The results show that, compared with CK, the content of SOM in soil treated with organic amendments increased by 5.3–7.4 g/kg; the available potassium (AK) of the LHA treatment was significantly higher than that of the FM and SR treatments by 32.17 and 42.79 mg/kg, respectively; and the available phosphorus (AP) of the LHA treatment was significantly higher than that of the SR treatment by 7.19 mg/kg. The pH and EC1:5 values of the LHA treatment were significantly lower than those of CK by 1.36 units and 0.2 mS/cm, respectively. The application of organic amendments and changes in environmental conditions also significantly affected community structure and increased soil microbial richness and diversity. SR treatment increased the abundance of Acidobacteria. Further FAPROTAX (Functional Annotation of Prokaryotic Taxa) analysis showed that organic amendments can increase the abundance of microbes involved in the carbon and nitrogen cycle processes, such as aerobic_ammonia_oxidation, aerobic_chemoheterotrophy, nitrification, etc., which increases the kernel number per row and increases crop yield. LHA can increase the microbial abundance of the nitrogen cycle and reduce soil carbon mineralization, while also increasing soil nutrients and crop yield. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the application of organic amendments in saline–sodic cultivated land.