Comparison of soil microbial community catabolic diversity between rhizosphere and bulk soil induced by tillage or residue retention

The effects of long term no-till and crop residue on soil microbial community catabolic function and relevant carbon cycle in the rhizosphere and bulk soils were assessed in the 10th year of a maize-winter wheat-soybean crop rotation. Conventional and zero tillage were coupled with residue removal and residue retention in a factorial design. Soil microbial community catabolic diversity was determined using Biolog-Eco plate. Average well colour development value (AWCD) of the microbial community in the rhizosphere soil was significantly higher than that in the bulk soil. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MB-C) content of rhizosphere soil under both zero tillage and residue removal treatments were significantly higher than those in the bulk soil. Microbes in bulk soil presented a preferential utilization of diverse carbon sources when crop residue was retained. Zero tillage significantly increased the utilization of most carbon sources of microbial in the rhizosphere compared to conventional tillage. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the distribution of carbon substrate utilization for all treatments suggests that the microbial community catabolic diversity is different between the tillage management treatments and between soil sampling positions. Effects of zero tillage and crop residue retention were different with respect to the microbial catabolic diversity in the rhizosphere and the bulk soil.