Lori, Martina; Armengot, Laura; Schneider, Monika; Schneidewind, Ulf; Bodenhausen, Natacha; Mäder, Paul and Krause, Hans-Martin (2022) Organic management enhances soil quality and drives microbial community diversity in cocoa production systems. Science of The Total Environment, 843 (155223), pp. 1-11.
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Document available online at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722023166?via%3Dihub
Summary in the original language of the document
Maintaining soil quality for agricultural production is a critical challenge, especially in the tropics. Due to the focus on environmental performance and the provision of soil ecosystem services, organic farming and agroforestry systems are proposed as alternative options to conventional monoculture farming. Soil processes underlying ecosystem services are strongly mediated by microbes; thus, increased understanding of the soil microbiome is crucial for the development of sustainable agricultural practices. Therefore, we measured and related soil quality indicators to bacterial and fungal community structures in five cocoa production systems, managed either organically or conventionally for 12 years, with varying crop diversity, from monoculture to agroforestry. In addition, a successional agroforestry system was included, which uses exclusively on-site pruning residues as soil inputs. Organic management increased soil organic carbon, nitrogen and labile carbon contents compared to conventional. Soil basal respiration and nitrogen mineralisation rates were highest in the successional agroforestry system. Across the field sites, fungal richness exceeded bacterial richness and fungal community composition was distinct between organic and conventional management, as well as between agroforestry and monoculture. Bacterial community composition differed mainly between organic and conventional management. Indicator species associated with organic management were taxonomically more diverse compared to taxa associated with conventionally managed systems. In conclusion, our results highlight the importance of organic management for maintaining soil quality in agroforestry systems for cocoa production.
EPrint Type: | Journal paper |
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Keywords: | Organic farming, Agroforestry, Soil quality, Soil bacteria, Soil fungi, Long-term field trial, System comparison, Cocoa production systems, Abacus, FiBL10118 |
Agrovoc keywords: | Language Value URI English organic farming -> organic agriculture http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_15911 English soil quality http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_a9645d28 English long-term experiments http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4f8733aa English cocoa (plant) -> Theobroma cacao http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7713 |
Subjects: | Crop husbandry > Production systems Soil > Soil quality |
Research affiliation: | Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Special crops > Cocoa Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics > Long-term experiments Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Agriculture in the Tropics and Subtropics > Systems comparison Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Soil > Soil quality Germany > University of Göttingen |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155223 |
Related Links: | https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/1548 |
Deposited By: | Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL |
ID Code: | 44426 |
Deposited On: | 31 Aug 2022 09:51 |
Last Modified: | 31 Aug 2022 09:55 |
Document Language: | English |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Peer-reviewed and accepted |
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