Microbial diversity and soil health parameters associated with turfgrass landscapes

Authors: CHOU, MING-YI - University Of Wisconsin; PAVLOU, DIMITRIOS - University Of Wisconsin; Rice, Pamela; Spokas, Kurt; SOLDAT, DOUGLAS - University Of Wisconsin; KOCH, PAUL - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Applied Soil Ecology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/23/2024
Publication Date: 2/2/2024
Citation: Chou, M., Pavlou, D., Rice, P.J., Spokas, K.A., Soldat, D.J., Koch, P.L. 2024. Microbial diversity and soil health parameters associated with turfgrass landscapes. Applied Soil Ecology. 196(4). Article 105311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105311.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsoil.2024.105311

Interpretive Summary: Improved understanding of land management’s impact on soil health and microbial diversity. The sustainable management of urban landscapes, and the ecosystem services they provide, are driven in part by the health and microbial diversity of the soil. Most research on soil health has focused on agricultural lands used for food production. However, creating more climate resilient cities will rely on improving our understanding of soil health in urban landscapes such as turfgrass. This study assessed the soil microbial diversity and major soil health parameters from three metropolitan areas in the Midwestern United States. At each location, soil was collected from three turfgrass types with varying management intensities, an unmanaged prairie, and an agricultural site. Bacterial and fungal beta-diversity were significantly affected by location, land use, and management age. Deviations in fungal alpha-diversity reflected the difference in management, with unmanaged prairie locations having consistently greater fungal alpha-diversity than that of managed turfgrasses and agricultural sites. The relative abundance of the beneficial fungi Glomeromycetes was significantly greater in the lawn turfgrass than any other land uses; however, this was due to the high relative abundance from a single lawn site deficient in phosphorus. Bacterial and fungal community composition significantly correlated with soil macro- and micro-nutrients, pH, organic matter, sand and clay content, and the overall soil health rating. Most of these soil parameters significantly and positively correlated with each other along with microbial process indicators including respiration rate, active carbon, and protein content. These soil health parameters and the microbiome assembly constitute the potential driving factors for many crucial microbial processes that drive ecosystem services. This research is important for scientists, landscape managers and city planners to create more sustainable urban landscapes.

Technical Abstract: The sustainable management of urban landscapes, and the ecosystem services they provide, are driven in part by the health and microbial diversity of the soil. Most research on soil health has focused on agricultural lands used for food production, but creating more climate resilient cities will rely on improving our understanding of soil health in urban landscapes such as turfgrass. This study assessed the soil microbial diversity and major soil health parameters of three turfgrass types with varying degrees of management intensity, an unmanaged prairie, and an agricultural site from three metropolitan areas in the Midwestern United States. Bacterial and fungal beta-diversity were found significantly affected by location, land use, and management age. Deviations in fungal alpha-diversity reflected the difference in management, with unmanaged prairie locations having consistently greater fungal alpha-diversity than that of managed turfgrasses and agricultural sites. The relative abundance of the beneficial fungi Glomeromycetes was significantly greater in the lawn turfgrass than any other land uses; however, this was due to the high relative abundance from a single lawn site deficient in P. Bacterial and fungal community composition significantly correlated with soil macro- and micro-nutrients, pH, organic matter, sand and clay content, and the overall soil health rating. The majority of these soil parameters significantly and positively correlated with each other along with microbial process indicators including respiration rate, active carbon, and protein content. These soil health parameters and the microbiome assembly constitute the potential driving factors for many crucial microbial processes that drive ecosystem services and can be used to create more sustainable urban landscapes.