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Item Dryland Cropping Systems, Weed Communities, and Disease Status Modulate the Effect of Climate Conditions on Wheat Soil Bacterial Communities(2020-08) Ishaq, Suzanne L.; Seipel, Tim F.; Yeoman, Carl J.; Menalled, Fabian D.Little knowledge exists on how soil bacteria in agricultural settings are impacted by management practices and environmental conditions in current and predicted climate scenarios. We assessed the impact of soil moisture, soil temperature, weed communities, and disease status on soil bacterial communities in three cropping systems: (i) conventional no-till (CNT) systems utilizing synthetic pesticides and herbicides, (ii) USDA-certified tilled organic (OT) systems, and (iii) USDA-certified organic systems with sheep grazing (OG). Sampling date within the growing season and associated soil temperature and moisture exerted the greatest effect on bacterial communities, followed by cropping system, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) infection status, and weed community. Soil temperature was negatively correlated with bacterial richness and evenness, while soil moisture was positively correlated with bacterial richness and evenness. Soil temperature and soil moisture independently altered soil bacterial community similarity between treatments. Inoculation of wheat with WSMV altered the associated soil bacteria, and there were interactions between disease status and cropping system, sampling date, and climate conditions, indicating the effect of multiple stressors on bacterial communities in soil. In May and July, cropping system altered the effect of climate change on the bacterial community composition in hotter conditions and in hotter and drier conditions compared to ambient conditions, in samples not treated with WSMV. Overall, this study indicates that predicted climate modifications as well as biological stressors play a fundamental role in the impact of cropping systems on soil bacterial communities.Item Impact of Cropping Systems, Soil Inoculum, and Plant Species Identity on Soil Bacterial Community Structure(2017-02) Ishaq, Suzanne L.; Johnson, Stephen P.; Miller, Zachariah J.; Lehnhoff, Erik A.; Olivo, Sarah K.; Yeoman, Carl J.; Menalled, Fabian D.Farming practices affect the soil microbial community, which in turn impacts crop growth and crop-weed interactions. This study assessed the modification of soil bacterial community structure by organic or conventional cropping systems, weed species identity [Amaranthus retroflexus L. (redroot pigweed) or Avena fatua L. (wild oat)], and living or sterilized inoculum. Soil from eight paired USDA-certified organic and conventional farms in north-central Montana was used as living or autoclave-sterilized inoculant into steam-pasteurized potting soil, planted with Am. retroflexus or Av. fatua and grown for two consecutive 8-week periods to condition soil nutrients and biota. Subsequently, the V3-V4 regions of the microbial 16S rRNA gene were sequenced by Illumina MiSeq. Treatments clustered significantly, with living or sterilized inoculum being the strongest delineating factor, followed by organic or conventional cropping system, then individual farm. Living inoculum-treated soil had greater species richness and was more diverse than sterile inoculum-treated soil (observed OTUs, Chao, inverse Simpson, Shannon, P<0.001) and had more discriminant taxa delineating groups (linear discriminant analysis). Living inoculum soil contained more Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria, while the sterile inoculum soil had more Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Verrucomicrobia. Organically farmed inoculum-treated soil had greater species richness, more diversity (observed OTUs, Chao, Shannon, P<0.05), and more discriminant taxa than conventionally farmed inoculum-treated soil. Cyanobacteria were higher in pots growing Am. retroflexus, regardless of inoculum type, for three of the four organic farms. Results highlight the potential of cropping systems and species identity to modify soil bacterial communities, subsequently modifying plant growth and crop-weed competition.Item Impact of integrated sheep grazing for cover crop termination on weed and ground beetle (Coleoptera:Carabidae) communities(2016-02) McKenzie, Sean C.; Goosey, Hayes B.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Menalled, Fabian D.Aim: To investigate how ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE) varies spatially under different climate conditions, and how spatial variations in WUE differ from those of transpiration-based water-use efficiency (WUEt) and transpiration-based inherent water-use efficiency (IWUEt). Location: Global terrestrial ecosystems. Methods: We investigated spatial patterns of WUE using two datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) and four biosphere model estimates of GPP and ET. Spatial relationships between WUE and climate variables were further explored through regression analyses. Results: Global WUE estimated by two satellite-based datasets is 1.9 ± 0.1 and 1.8 ± 0.6 g C m−2 mm−1 lower than the simulations from four process-based models (2.0 ± 0.3 g C m−2 mm−1) but comparable within the uncertainty of both approaches. In both satellite-based datasets and process models, precipitation is more strongly associated with spatial gradients of WUE for temperate and tropical regions, but temperature dominates north of 50° N. WUE also increases with increasing solar radiation at high latitudes. The values of WUE from datasets and process-based models are systematically higher in wet regions (with higher GPP) than in dry regions. WUEt shows a lower precipitation sensitivity than WUE, which is contrary to leaf- and plant-level observations. IWUEt, the product of WUEt and water vapour deficit, is found to be rather conservative with spatially increasing precipitation, in agreement with leaf- and plant-level measurements. Main conclusions: WUE, WUEt and IWUEt produce different spatial relationships with climate variables. In dry ecosystems, water losses from evaporation from bare soil, uncorrelated with productivity, tend to make WUE lower than in wetter regions. Yet canopy conductance is intrinsically efficient in those ecosystems and maintains a higher IWUEt. This suggests that the responses of each component flux of evapotranspiration should be analysed separately when investigating regional gradients in WUE, its temporal variability and its trends.