Soil microbial communities of Japanese apricot (Prunus mume) orchard under organic and conventional management

Abstract

Organic farming has positive effects on soil microbial population, process, and activity. To examine effects of two different management methods (organic farming vs. conventional farming) on the cultivation of Japanese apricot, contents of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), total glomalin, and soil chemical properties were analyzed and compared. The organic farming practice resulted in significantly higher contents of organic matter, total FAME, total bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and total glomalin than the conventional farming practice. Soil organic matter showed positive correlation with contents of soil microbial biomass, total bacteria, total glomalin, Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria, actinomycetes, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In 2018, the organic farming practice resulted in lower ratios of cy17:0 and 16:1 omega 7c than the conventional farming practice, indicating that microbial stress was reduced by the input of organic fertilizer into soil. Based on principal component analyses (PCA) of soil microbial communities, ratios of cy17:0 to 16:1 omega 7c in orchid soil can be used as microbial indicators to distinguish organically farmed orchard soil from conventionally farmed orchard soil.