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Soil microbiota effects on rye growth: implications for integration of a rye cover crop into temperate cropping systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2007

Jason L. De Bruin ,
Nicholas R. Jordan ,
Paul M. Porter  and
Sheri C. Huerd
Jason L. De Bruin*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, 2104 Agronomy Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Nicholas R. Jordan
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Paul M. Porter
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Sheri C. Huerd
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, 411 Borlaug Hall, 1991 Buford Circle, St Paul, MN 55108, USA.
*
*Corresponding author: jsndbrn@iastate.edu.
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Abstract

Integration of rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crops into the corn (Zea mays L.) soybean [(Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation of the upper Midwest USA can provide many agronomic and agroecological benefits. Integration is made difficult by short growing seasons, but may be facilitated by management of key agroecological interactions such as those between rye and soil microbiota. Rye growth was measured and colonization by arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) was determined in greenhouse experiments using soils from seven different management systems from a long-term cropping-systems experiment in southwest Minnesota. Microbial effects on rye growth were not evident before vernalization, but at final harvest (4 weeks after vernalization) soil microbial populations reduced rye shoot and root growth, relative to a pasteurized control inoculum. At final harvest, shoot biomass in 2-year rotations was 17% greater than 4-year rotations, indicating that microbial populations selected for by 4-year rotations may be more deleterious or pathogenic than those selected for by 2-year rotations. Growth of three rye cultivars was examined in all inocula; cultivars differed in their mean response to soil microbiota and their ability to host AMF. These findings suggest that management factors affect interactions between rye and soil microbiota resulting in altered rye growth.

Keywords

cover cropcrop rotationmycorrhizal fungiorganicryeSecale cerealesoil microbiota
Type
Research Article
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , December 2006 , pp. 245 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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