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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (7): 2982-2992    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.11.039
Agro-ecosystem & Environment Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Long-term fertilization enriches soil food web mainly through bottom-up regulation in a rice–wheat cropping system

Yunfeng Chen1#, Cheng Hu1, Yufei Li2, Xuemei Han3, Donghai Liu1, Yan Qiao1, Min Xu1

1 Key Laboratory of Fertilization from Agricultural Wastes, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs/Institute of Plant Protection and Soil Fertilizer, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430064, China

2 Institute of Plant Nutrition and Resources, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China

3 College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China

 Highlights 
Long-term fertilization enhances most functional groups.
Manure and manure+NPK surpass NPK in enriching food web components.
High-fertility soils diminish manure vs. manure+NPK effect differentiation.
Fertilization alters the food web primarily via bottom-up regulatory pathways.
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摘要  

长期施肥通过改变土壤碎屑数量和质量来改变土壤食物网结构。以往研究多集中于长期施肥对某种特定生物群落的影响,对整个食物网的影响及其影响的机制研究较少。本研究利用持续30年的稻麦轮作长期定位试验,以未施肥土壤为对照,研究了化肥(NPK)、有机肥(M)、有机肥配施化肥(NPKM)对土壤食物网主要类群(微生物、原生动物、线虫、微节肢动物、线蚓、蚯蚓)的生物量或丰度的影响,并通过线虫生态指数评估自下而上与自上而下的调控效应。结果表明,长期施肥显著增加了土壤碎屑丰度,进而促进了大多数功能群的丰度,且M与NPKM处理中功能群丰度增加幅度更大。与NPK相比,M处理中各功能群丰度增加了0.69%至972.52%(平均241.62%),NPKM处理增加了26.55%至792.30%(平均189.02%)。然而,由于基础肥力过高,M与NPKM之间大多数功能群丰度之间差异并不显著。M和NPKM处理中,线虫富集指数NPK分别提高了51.27%和28.49%、富集足迹比NPK提高11.80%和47.17%,此外,大多低营养级中的功能群与高营养级功能群之间存在正相关关系,这些结果证明土壤食物网中存在强烈自下而上调控作用。偏最小二乘路径分析进一步证实了食物网中自下而上的调控作用强于自上而下的调控作用。总之,长期施用有机肥,尤其是与无机肥配施时,能够通过自下而上的调节方式提高稻麦轮作土壤食物网丰度。



Abstract  

Long-term fertilization shapes the size and community composition of the soil food web by altering resource quantity and quality.  Previous studies have examined specific components; however, comprehensive effects on the entire food web and underlying mechanisms remain unclear.  In this study, a 30-year experiment in a rice–wheat cropping system was conducted to assess the effects of chemical fertilizer (NPK), manure (M), and their combination (NPKM), with unfertilized soil as the control.  Biomass or abundance across key taxonomic and functional groups - including microorganisms, protozoa, nematodes, mites, collembolans, enchytraeids, and earthworms - was measured, and nematode ecological indices were calculated to evaluate bottom-up and top-down regulatory influences.  Results showed that long-term fertilization increased resource inputs, thereby enhancing most functional groups.  M and NPKM outperformed NPK across most groups, with relative increases compared to NPK ranging from 20.69 to 972.52% under M (average: 241.62%) and from 26.55 to 792.30% under NPKM (average: 189.02%).  However, differences between M and NPKM were not significant, as high soil fertility diminished the divergence in their effects.  Strong evidence for bottom-up control was observed, supported by positive correlations among functional groups and by increases in the enrichment index (51.27 and 28.49%) and enrichment footprint (11.80 and 47.17%) under M and NPKM relative to NPK.  Partial least squares path modeling further confirmed that bottom-up forces predominantly determined food web structure and biomass.  These findings indicate that sustained organic inputs, particularly when integrated with mineral fertilizers, effectively enhance soil food web complexity and size primarily through bottom-up regulatory mechanisms.

Keywords:  long-term fertilization       soil food web       nematode-based indices       bottom-up effect       top-down effect       rice–wheat system  
Received: 08 May 2025   Accepted: 30 October 2025 Online: 26 November 2025  
Fund: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40901116 and 31870501).
About author:  #Correspondence Yunfeng Chen, Tel: +86-27-88430582, E-mail: chen971314@ 163.com

Cite this article: 

Yunfeng Chen, Cheng Hu, Yufei Li, Xuemei Han, Donghai Liu, Yan Qiao, Min Xu. 2026. Long-term fertilization enriches soil food web mainly through bottom-up regulation in a rice–wheat cropping system. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(7): 2982-2992.

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