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Aims <p>Legume–cereal intercropping is widely recognised for increasing soil nitrogen (N) stocks, yet the microbial mechanisms driving this N retention remain poorly understood. In this study, we focus on how microbial community genomic traits and soil extractable nutrient stoichiometry impact on soil N accumulation.</p> Methods <p>We conducted a five year maize–peanut field experiment under three N fertilization levels (0, 150, 300 kg N ha⁻1 yr⁻1), we examined soil organic N fractions, microbial community-averaged genomic traits (genome size and Guanine-Cytosine content), and soil extractable nutrient stoichiometry and their relationships.</p> Results <p>Intercropped peanut soils accumulated significantly more total N than monocultures, primarily through reduced amino acid N and elevated recalcitrant fractions (non-hydrolysable N and unidentified hydrolysable N). This enhanced N stabilisation was closely linked to significantly smaller bacterial community-averaged genome sizes in peanut (versus maize) soils and to lower extractable N:carbon (C), N: phosphorus (P), and N: potassium (K) ratios, indicating a relief of microbial C, P, and K limitation. Nitrogen fertilization enlarged bacterial genome size in most treatments, consistent with induced co-limitation by non-N nutrients. Community-averaged genomic traits, especially bacterial genome size, combined with extractable nutrient stoichiometry, showed strong relationships with soil N fractions and provided substantially high predictive power (across several machine-learning algorithms).</p> Conclusion <p>These findings reveal that maize–peanut intercropping promotes long-term soil N retention through shifts in microbial life-history traits and nutrient stoichiometry, offering new trait-based predictors of N cycling in low-input agroecosystems.</p>

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Microbial genomic traits and soil stoichiometry drive nitrogen stabilization in maize–peanut intercropping system

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月7日

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  • Yongyong Zhang,
  • Fengyan Zhao,
  • Zhanxiang Sun,
  • Wei Bai,
  • Chen Feng,
  • Liangshan Feng,
  • Fuki Fujiwara,
  • Beat Frey,
  • Yasunori Ichihashi,
  • Anita Christina Risch

摘要

Aims

Legume–cereal intercropping is widely recognised for increasing soil nitrogen (N) stocks, yet the microbial mechanisms driving this N retention remain poorly understood. In this study, we focus on how microbial community genomic traits and soil extractable nutrient stoichiometry impact on soil N accumulation.

Methods

We conducted a five year maize–peanut field experiment under three N fertilization levels (0, 150, 300 kg N ha⁻1 yr⁻1), we examined soil organic N fractions, microbial community-averaged genomic traits (genome size and Guanine-Cytosine content), and soil extractable nutrient stoichiometry and their relationships.

Results

Intercropped peanut soils accumulated significantly more total N than monocultures, primarily through reduced amino acid N and elevated recalcitrant fractions (non-hydrolysable N and unidentified hydrolysable N). This enhanced N stabilisation was closely linked to significantly smaller bacterial community-averaged genome sizes in peanut (versus maize) soils and to lower extractable N:carbon (C), N: phosphorus (P), and N: potassium (K) ratios, indicating a relief of microbial C, P, and K limitation. Nitrogen fertilization enlarged bacterial genome size in most treatments, consistent with induced co-limitation by non-N nutrients. Community-averaged genomic traits, especially bacterial genome size, combined with extractable nutrient stoichiometry, showed strong relationships with soil N fractions and provided substantially high predictive power (across several machine-learning algorithms).

Conclusion

These findings reveal that maize–peanut intercropping promotes long-term soil N retention through shifts in microbial life-history traits and nutrient stoichiometry, offering new trait-based predictors of N cycling in low-input agroecosystems.