Soil microbial biomass as affected by non-flooded plastic mulching cultivation in rice

The long-term field experiments were initiated in 2001 on five sites in Zhejiang province of China to monitor the impacts of non-flooded plastic mulching management on rice soil microbial biomass for sustainable agro-ecosystem. The three treatments were plastic film mulching with no flooding (PM), no plastic film mulching and no flooding (UM), and the traditional flooding management (TF). Microbial biomass C accounted for 0.3–2.4% of the soil total organic C, microbial biomass N for 0.79–4.3% of the soil total N, and microbial biomass P for 0.1–1.6% of the soil total P. Three years of non-flooded plastic film mulching reduced microbial biomass C and N and increased microbial biomass P in rice soil.