Pedosphere (4): 889--903, 2026
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2026 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Floor vegetation management affects diversity and composition of mycorrhizal symbionts and soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean olive orchard |
Arianna GRASSI1, Irene PAGLIARANI1, Eleonora GRANATA1, Luciano AVIO1, Caterina CRISTANI1, Flavia MASCAGNI1, Manuela GIOVANNETTI1, Chiara PICCINI2, Claudio CANTINI2, Alessandra TURRINI1 , Monica AGNOLUCCI1 |
1 Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, Pisa 56124 (Italy);
2 National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Bioeconomy (CNR-IBE), Follonica 58022 (Italy) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Cover crops and natural grass cover, utilised for interrow olive orchard floor management, protect soil from erosion, maintain organic matter, and positively affect crop yield. Likewise, they increase soil microbial abundance, activity, and diversity. This study assessed the impact of the cover crop treatment (CC) with cover crops preceded by deep tillage and the natural grass cover treatment (NGC) with undisturbed natural grass cover on the diversity and composition of mycorrhizal symbionts and soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean olive orchard across two years. Illumina MiSeq sequencing identified 31 arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal (AMF) taxa, mainly belonging to the Glomeraceae family (84%), followed by the Paraglomeraceae, Diversisporaceae, and Ambisporaceae families. The use of cover crops preceded by deep tillage negatively affected AMF community composition during the first year, as compared with undisturbed NGC. In the second year, when the deep tillage was not practiced, AMF richness increased, and a higher number of positive connections were established among the AMF community, as detected by co-occurrence network analysis. The treatment CC significantly increased soil bacterial diversity, leaving the soil fungal microbiota unchanged. Our findings suggest that, in order to maintain soil microbial abundance, activity, and diversity, cover crops preceded by tillage may be used in interrow olive orchard floor management as an alternative sustainable strategy, since AMF communities were able to re-establish in the short term, and bacteria were positively affected. |
| Key Words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,cover crop,Illumina MiSeq sequencing,microbiota,natural grass cover,polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis |
| Citation: Grassi A, Pagliarani I, Granata E, Avio L, Cristani C, Mascagni F, Giovannetti M, Piccini C, Cantini C, Turrini A, Agnolucci M. 2026. Floor vegetation management affects diversity and composition of mycorrhizal symbionts and soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean olive orchard. Pedosphere. 36(4): 889-903. |
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