Microbial diversity and abundance in loamy sandy soil under renaturalization of former arable land

Abstract

The abundance and taxonomic diversity of different physiological groups of bacteria and fungi and yeasts in the fields of the long-term experiment of renaturalization of infertile arable soils were studied. The experiment involved four land conversion methods: conversion of arable land to cultivated meadow, soil and forest, leaving the experimental area of arable land. With these studies, we have begun to fill research gaps related to the taxonomic and functional diversity of soil microorganisms. The greatest changes in the abundance of cultivable organotrophic, diazotrophic and nitrifying bacteria were found to be observed in those areas where anthropogenic activities took place, i.e. in the cultivated field and in the cultural grassland. The abundance of bacteria was relatively lower and that of fungi was higher in the soil and in the cultivated area. It was also found that the higher jumps in the abundance of diazotrophs and nitrifiers during the respective stages of vegetation were caused by the applied agrotechnical measures and the cultivation of the respective plants. The abundance of cultivable bacteria was up to 105, and the number of fungi was 103 CFU in 1 g of dry soil. The taxonomic structure was determined by Next Generation Sequencing. The taxonomic groups of Actino- and Proteobacteria had the highest abundance. The highest number of fungal OTU was distinguished by Ascomycota fungi (37–42% of the total number of fungi). Comparing the taxonomic structure of all studied samples, the area planted with pines stands out, where an increase in the taxonomic group of Basidiomycota fungi (up to 24%) is observed at the expense of Ascomycota fungi. In order to have a balanced, fully rich soil, efforts must be made to maintain a stable structure of microbial communities, which can only be achieved through targeted research.