Differential responses of soil bacterial community and respiration to plastic film and straw mulching in a maize field

Differential responses of soil bacterial community and respiration to plastic film and straw mulching in a maize field | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Differential responses of soil bacterial community and respiration to plastic film and straw mulching in a maize field Xiaoqi Luo, Nanping Lin, Naijiang Wang, Benhua Sun, Yunfei Tuo, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9153922/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Soil respiration ( R s ), driven by microbial activity, varied with mulching practices, but the microbial mechanisms behind these differences remain unclear. To address this knowledge gap, a three-year (2019–2021) maize field study was conducted to evaluate three treatments: no mulching (CK), plastic film mulching (PM), and straw mulching (SM). This study assessed the effects of these practices on the alpha diversity and structure of the bacterial community and R s , and explore the roles of soil abiotic and biotic factors in driving R s . The results indicated that PM significantly increased bacterial alpha diversity (as indicated by ASVs, Chao1, and Shannon indices) in the early growth stage of maize and decreased the bacterial abundance and alpha diversity in the mid-to-late growth stages, whereas SM significantly increased that. Furthmore, PM and SM significantly altered the bacterial community, with PM increasing oligotrophs ( e.g. , Chloroflexi and Firmicutes ), while SM increasing copiotrophs ( e.g. , Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota ). Cumulative R s under PM varied interannually, increasing in 2019 and 2020 but decreasing by 9.1% in 2021. In contrast, SM consistently stimulated cumulative R s by 31.8–72.4%. Correlation and redundancy analysis identified soil moisture, NH + 4-N and NO–3-N as key factors shaping the bacterial community. Structural equation modeling revealed that bacterial community structure, NH + 4-N, NO–3-N, and soil temperature (ST) exerted greater total effects on R s , with NH + 4-N indirectly affect R s via bacterial community structure. Overall, PM suppressed R s in 2021 maize season mainly by enriching oligotrophs under high ST in the summer, whereas SM promoted R s via enhancing copiotrophs involved in soil carbon cycling. This study elucidated the contrasting microbial pathways through which different mulching practices modulate R s in summer maize cropping systems. Plastic film mulching Straw mulching Bacterial community Soil respiration Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9153922","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":608703672,"identity":"52aa626f-2edb-4647-99cb-16693443c4e2","order_by":0,"name":"Xiaoqi Luo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Southwest Forestry University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaoqi","middleName":"","lastName":"Luo","suffix":""},{"id":608703673,"identity":"d69351a6-af6f-4afa-b19c-3f441a13658f","order_by":1,"name":"Nanping Lin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water 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To address this knowledge gap, a three-year (2019\u0026ndash;2021) maize field study was conducted to evaluate three treatments: no mulching (CK), plastic film mulching (PM), and straw mulching (SM). This study assessed the effects of these practices on the alpha diversity and structure of the bacterial community and \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e, and explore the roles of soil abiotic and biotic factors in driving \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e. The results indicated that PM significantly increased bacterial alpha diversity (as indicated by ASVs, Chao1, and Shannon indices) in the early growth stage of maize and decreased the bacterial abundance and alpha diversity in the mid-to-late growth stages, whereas SM significantly increased that. Furthmore, PM and SM significantly altered the bacterial community, with PM increasing oligotrophs (\u003cem\u003ee.g.\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eChloroflexi\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eFirmicutes\u003c/em\u003e), while SM increasing copiotrophs (\u003cem\u003ee.g.\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eProteobacteria and Acidobacteriota\u003c/em\u003e). Cumulative \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e under PM varied interannually, increasing in 2019 and 2020 but decreasing by 9.1% in 2021. In contrast, SM consistently stimulated cumulative \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e by 31.8\u0026ndash;72.4%. Correlation and redundancy analysis identified soil moisture, NH\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;4-N and NO\u0026ndash;3-N as key factors shaping the bacterial community. Structural equation modeling revealed that bacterial community structure, NH\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;4-N, NO\u0026ndash;3-N, and soil temperature (ST) exerted greater total effects on \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e, with NH\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;4-N indirectly affect \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e via bacterial community structure. Overall, PM suppressed \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e in 2021 maize season mainly by enriching oligotrophs under high ST in the summer, whereas SM promoted \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e via enhancing copiotrophs involved in soil carbon cycling. This study elucidated the contrasting microbial pathways through which different mulching practices modulate \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cem\u003es\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e in summer maize cropping systems.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Differential responses of soil bacterial community and respiration to plastic film and straw mulching in a maize field","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-23 16:27:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9153922/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"23843fd5-42a4-4c14-88ce-5970a4a17d9e","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-23T16:27:30+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-23 16:27:30","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9153922","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9153922","identity":"rs-9153922","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}