Biological N fixation but not mineral N fertilization enhances the accumulation of N in peanut soil in maize/peanut intercropping system
2022
Zhao, Fengyan | Sun, Zhanxiang | Feng, Liangshan | Zhang, Yongyong | Feng, Chen | Bai, Wei | Zheng, Jiaming | Zhang, Zhe | Yang, Ning | Cai, Qian | Xiang, Wuyan | Li, Hui | Jiang, Yong | Hohmann, Pierre
Legume/cereal intercropping has the potential to maximize the use of resources to raise yields due to enhanced nitrogen (N) fixation by legume root nodules, while high N fertilization may inhibit the nodulation of legume. However, whether legume/cereal intercropping can promote the accumulation of soil N storage with N fertilization and its underlying mechanism are less clear. Here, we evaluated the long-term (5 years) effects of maize/peanut intercropping and mineral N fertilization on peanut soil total N content and soil N cycling functional genes. The experiment includes two planting patterns (peanut maize intercropping and peanut monocropping) with three N fertilization rates (0, 150, and 300 kg N ha⁻¹). Intercropping increased soil total N content (STN) by average 18.2%, and the positive effect of intercropping on STN decreased with N application rate. Highest N application decreased the nodule fresh weight (NFW) by 64.3% and 46.0% in intercropping and monocropping system, respectively. However, intercropping has no effect on NFW. Intercropping increased the nifH gene abundance by average 26.5%. SEM analysis indicated that NFW and nifH gene abundance combined can explain 46% of the variance of STN. Our results indicate that biological N fixation but not mineral N fertilization enhances the accumulation of N in soil planted with peanut in maize/peanut intercropping system.
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