Assessing the effects of microwave heat disturbance on soil microbial communities in Australian agricultural environments: A microcosm study

• Published in: Applied soil ecology : a section of Agriculture, ecosystems & environment Vol. 198; p. 105386
• Main Authors: Khan, Muhammad J., Brodie, Graham, Jurburg, Stephanie D., Chen, Qinglin, Hu, Hang-Wei, Gupta, Dorin, Mattner, Scott W., He, Ji-Zheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.06.2024
• Subjects: communities' richness; Microwave; New technologies; Recovery; Soil microbes; Soil temperature; Soil types; Weed control; Weed control; Soil types; Microwave; communities' richness; New technologies; Soil microbes; Recovery; Soil temperature
• ISSN: 0929-1393; 1873-0272
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105386

Weeds reduce agricultural productivity by competing for resources intended for crops. Recently, the deactivation of weed seedbanks by microwave (MW) radiation has been developed as a chemical-free weed management practice. It is unknown, if these extreme heat disturbances permanently alter the soil microbiome of different farming systems. We performed a microcosm experiment to quantify the immediate and short-term effect of MW heating on the soil microbiome. We exposed three different soil types (representing dryland, temperate and irrigated farming systems) to MW heating, and monitored the fungal and bacterial communities over a month of recovery. Bacterial and fungal community composition were strongly dependent on the soil of origin. Following MW heating, bacterial and fungal richness decreased in all soils and did not recover during the period studied (four weeks). Notably, in all soils, bacterial communities became more dissimilar to each other following disturbance, but in fungi, this depended on the soil of origin. These results highlight the importance of considering the resistance and recovery of the resident soil microbiota in developing long-term sustainable MW-based weed management system. •Soils' resident microbiota were dependent on the origin of soil.•Soil heating intensities declined the richness of bacterial and fungal communities.•Four weeks appeared to be insufficient time for microbial recovery.•Heat disturbance led to changes in the abundance of bacterial and fungal taxa.•Heating induced an obvious difference in bacterial communities' composition.