Kardol, Paul
- Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
- Institutionen för skoglig mykologi och växtpatologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
Sammanfattning
Organic amendments enhance multitrophic interactions within soil food webs, thereby supporting multiple ecological functions including organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and crop production. In (sub)-tropical regions, soil degradation and climate stresses such as heat and drought frequently constrain agricultural productivity. We hypothesize that vermicompost, an organic amendment produced through interactions between earthworms and microbes, can promote crop productivity and its stability compared with conventional compost. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a six-year experiment in a subtropical farmland with an annual sweet potato-oilseed rape rotation. We compared the effects of vermicompost, conventional compost, no fertilizer (Control) and synthetic fertilizer alone (NPK), on the temporal stability of crop productivity (measured as the inverse of the coefficient of variation of the mean yield over six-years). Soil properties (i.e., physical attributes, pH, carbon and nutrients, food web structure) and plant performance (nutrients and hormones) were also measured. Results showed that vermicompost, conventional compost or NPK increased average productivity by 15 %-299 % compared to Control (p < 0.05). Both vermicompost (+35.8 % than Control, +45.1 % than NPK) and conventional compost (+12.9 % than Control, +20.6 % than NPK) significantly improved the stability of productivity by increasing average productivity. Notably, vermicompost revealed a greater improvement in productivity stability by reducing temporal variability (p < 0.05). Both vermicompost and conventional compost enhanced soil structural stability (+26.7 %-52.2 %), water-holding capacity (+6.2 %-20.5 %), dissolved organic carbon (+136 %-229 %) and food web complexity (+133 %-265 %) compared to the Control or NPK, which not only contributed directly to productivity stability but also indirectly through stimulating plant hormone production. Our findings highlight the importance of complex biological communities and vermicompost-mediated non-nutrient way such as improving soil physical and hormone properties in enhancing the stability of productivity. Together, agricultural practices that foster soil multitrophic complexity and plant hormone production could contribute to sustainable farming by reducing chemical inputs and promoting the recycling of agricultural waste in (sub)-tropical regions.
Nyckelord
Organic amendment; Biotic interactions; Multitrophic levels; Plant hormone; Temporal stability; Crop productivity
Publicerad i
Soil and Tillage Research
2026, volym: 257, artikelnummer: 106988
Utgivare: ELSEVIER
SLU författare
UKÄ forskningsämne
Markvetenskap
Publikationens identifierare
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2025.106988
Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/145494