Microscale heterogeneity of soil bacterial communities under long-term fertilizations in fluvo-aquic soils

Differently sized soil aggregates, with non-uniform distribution of space and nutrients, provide spatially heterogeneous microenvironments for microorganisms and are important for controlling microbial community ecology and biogeochemistry in soils. Here, we investigated the prokaryotic communities within different aggregate-size fractions: macroaggregate ( > 0.25 mm), microaggregate (0.053-0.25 mm) and silt + clay ( <0.053 mm). These were isolated from fluvo-aquic soils under 39-year fertilization strategies: no fertilizer (CK), chemical fertilizer (NPK), manure fertilizer (M), and combination of manure and chemical fertilizers (MNPK). The results showed that the proportion of macroaggregate, soil aggregate-associated organic carbon (SOC) content and aggregate stability were all significantly increased by both manure and chemical fertilizations. Organic fertilizations (M and MNPK) more effectively boosted formation and stability of macroaggregates and enhanced SOC concentration than NPK. The distribution patterns of microorganisms in aggregates were primarily shaped by fertilization and aggregate size. They explained 76.9% of the variance in bacterial community compositions. Fertilizations, especially with organic fertilizers primarily transitioned bacterial communities from slow-growing oligotrophic groups (e.g., Chloroflexi) dominance to fast-growing copiotrophic groups (e.g., Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) dominance across all aggregate sizes. Macroaggregates possessed a more stable bacterial community and efficiency of resource transfer, while smaller aggregates increased antagonism and weakened mutualism among bacterial communities. Overall, combination of manure and chemical fertilizers was crucial for increasing SOC content and aggregation, leading to a clear shift in bacterial community structures at aggregate scale. (C) Higher Education Press 2021