Responses of Soil Properties and Microbial Communities to Long‐Term Winter Land‐Use Systems in the Erhai Lake Basin

Abstract

Winter land‐use systems are an important but understudied component of agricultural management because long‐term practices may be associated with distinct soil conditions and microbial characteristics. However, whether different winter land‐use systems are consistently associated with differences in soil properties and microbial communities remains unclear. This study compared four long‐term winter land‐use systems—winter fallow, morel mushroom cultivation, potato cultivation, and rapeseed cultivation—in the Erhai Lake Basin, China, to assess differences in soil chemical properties and bacterial and fungal communities. Soil samples were collected from established farmer‐managed fields on comparable red soils following summer tobacco production. Soil physicochemical properties and bacterial and fungal communities were characterized using chemical analyses, high‐throughput sequencing, and multivariate statistical approaches. The four winter land‐use systems showed distinct soil chemical profiles. Fallow soils were characterized by higher soil organic carbon and available nitrogen, whereas rapeseed‐grown soils had lower pH and greater phosphorus availability. Potato‐grown soils showed lower available potassium and phosphorus, while morel‐grown soils had higher available potassium but lower carbon and nitrogen availability. Bacterial and fungal community compositions differed significantly among systems. Bacterial α‐diversity and richness were lower under morel cultivation, whereas fungal α‐diversity showed limited variation. LEfSe analysis identified distinct bacterial and fungal biomarker taxa associated with the different winter land‐use systems. Long‐term winter land‐use systems were associated with distinct soil nutrient conditions and microbial community characteristics on comparable red soils. Microbial differences were closely associated with variation in soil pH, organic matter, cation exchange capacity, and nutrient availability. These findings show that different winter land‐use choices correspond to different soil chemical and microbial patterns and provide evidence for soil‐specific winter management in subtropical plateau agriculture.