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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2017, Vol. 16 Issue (03): 679-690    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(16)61391-6
Soil & Fertilization﹒Irrigation﹒Plant Nutrition﹒ Agro-Ecology & Environment Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Effects of reclaimed water irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on the chemical properties and microbial community of soil
GUO Wei1, 2, Mathias N Andersen3, QI Xue-bin1, 4, LI Ping1, 4, LI Zhong-yang1, 4, FAN Xiang-yang1, 4, ZHOU Yuan1, 2

1 Farmland Irrigation Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Xinxiang 453003, P.R.China

2 Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, P.R.China

3 Department of Agroecology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Tjele 8830, Denmark

4 Key Laboratory of High-efficient and Safe Utilization of Agriculture Water Resources of CAAS, Xinxiang 453003, P.R.China

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Abstract  The ecological effect of reclaimed water irrigation and fertilizer application on the soil environment is receiving more attention.  Soil microbial activity and nitrogen (N) levels are important indicators of the effect of reclaimed water irrigation on environment.  This study evaluated soil physicochemical properties and microbial community structure in soils irrigated with reclaimed water and receiving varied amounts of N fertilizer.  The results indicated that the reclaimed water irrigation increased soil electrical conductivity (EC) and soil water content (SWC).  The N treatment has highly significant effect on the ACE, Chao, Shannon (H) and Coverage indices.  Based on a 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) sequence analysis, the Proteobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes and Bacteroidetes were more abundant in soil irrigated with reclaimed water than in soil irrigated with clean water.  Stronger clustering of microbial communities using either clean or reclaimed water for irrigation indicated that the type of irrigation water may have a greater influence on the structure of soil microbial community than N fertilizer treatment.  Based on a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) between the species of soil microbes and the chemical properties of the soil, which indicated that nitrate N (NO3-N) and total phosphorus (TP) had significant impact on abundance of Verrucomicrobia and Gemmatimonadetes, meanwhile the pH and organic matter (OM) had impact on abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria significantly.  It was beneficial to the improvement of soil bacterial activity and fertility under 120 mg kg–1 N with reclaimed water irrigation.
Keywords:   reclaimed water      nitrogen      soil chemical properties      16S rRNA sequence      soil microbe community  
Received: 06 January 2016   Accepted:
Fund: 

The authors would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the Agriculture Water and Soil Environment Field Science Research Station, China, for the permission to conduct the research. We would like to acknowledge the financial support for this research from the National High-Tech R&D Program of China (2012AA101404) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51209208, 51479201).

Corresponding Authors:  QI Xue-bin, Tel: +86-373-3393277, Fax: +86-373-3393308, E-mail: qxb6301@sina.cn? 2017, CAAS. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This   
About author:  GUO Wei, Mobile: +86-18790592328, E-mail: guowei1124@163.com

Cite this article: 

GUO Wei, Mathias N Andersen, QI Xue-bin, LI Ping, LI Zhong-yang, FAN Xiang-yang, ZHOU Yuan . 2017. Effects of reclaimed water irrigation and nitrogen fertilization on the chemical properties and microbial community of soil. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16(03): 679-690.

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