Influencing Factors of Soil Microbial Communities in Different Ecological Zones in the Golden Maize Belt in China: Environmental and Biochemical Factors

Abstract

The soil microbial community is highly sensitive to the soil environment and can reflect changes in soil quality and soil ecosystem health. To clarify the differences in microbial structure and the effect of environmental factors on soil microbial communities in different ecological regions in Golden Maize Belt China, 72 corn soils were collected in three ecological zones (eastern, central, and western) in Jilin province. The chemical properties and enzyme content were measured. High-throughput sequencing was adopted to calculate the microbial diversity and analyze the microbial structure of soil fungi and bacteria. The environmental influencing factors were found by canonical correlation analysis. The results showed that the soil pH of the eastern, central, and western regions is 5.3, 6.2, and 7.9, respectively. Soil fertility declined from east to west. The content of urease and sucrase in the soil in the west was the highest at 48.11 mg/g·d and 119.23 mg/g·d, respectively. Soil phosphatase content was closely related to soil pH. The abundance of fungal and bacterial communities displayed a downward trend from west to east. Ascomycota is the dominant flora of soil fungi, and Actinobacteria is the dominant flora of soil bacteria. The Ascomycota and Actinobacteria showed a positive correlation with loam. The accumulated and annual average temperatures in environmental factors had the most significant influence on the structure of the soil fungal. Soil pH, alkali hydrolyzed nitrogen, and rainfall were the main factors affecting the soil bacteria. Our findings emphasize that climatic conditions significantly impact soil fungi and bacteria. Therefore, we should pay great attention to the impact of climate change on soil microbial diversity and structure.