Insight into the soil aggregate-mediated restoration mechanism of degraded black soil via biochar addition: Emphasizing the driving role of core microbial communities and nutrient cycling

Soil microbial communities are responsive to biochar application. However, few studies have investigated the synergistic effects of biochar application in the restoration of degraded black soil, especially soil aggregate-mediated microbial community changes that improve soil quality. From the perspective of soil aggregates, this study explored the potential microbial driving mechanism of biochar (derived from soybean straw) addition in black soil restoration in Northeast China. The results showed that biochar significantly improved the soil organic carbon, cation exchange capacity and water content, which play crucial roles in aggregate stability. The addition of biochar also significantly increased the concentration of the bacterial community in mega-aggregates (ME; 0.25-2 mm) compared with micro-aggregates (MI; <0.25 mm). Microbial co-occurrence networks analysis showed that biochar enhanced microbial interactions in terms of the number of links and modularity, particularly in ME. 16 S rRNA sequencing predicted that the expression of genes related to carbon (rbcL, acsA, gltS, aclB, and mcrA) and nitrogen (nifH and amoA) transformation increased after the addition of biochar. Furthermore, the functional microbes involved in carbon fixation (Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes) and nitrification (Proteobacteria) were significantly enriched and are the key regulators of carbon and nitrogen kinetics. Structural equation model (SEM) analysis further showed that the application of biochar promoted soil aggregates to positively regulate the abundance of soil nutrient conversion-related microorganisms, thereby increasing soil nutrient content and enzyme activities. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms of soil restoration through biochar addition.