Effect of Biodegradable Mulch Film on Soil Microbial Community

The biodegradable film application can escape from plastic environmental pollution. This experiments studied the effect of biodegradable mulch film on the soil microbial community using fatty acid methyl ester method in soybean production field. The soil $NO_3$-N content in polyethylene mulch film (PE) soil was significantly higher than biodegradable mulch film soil (p < 0.05). The soil microbial community of Gram negative bacteria showed significantly higher in biodegradable mulch film soil than PE mulch film soil (p < 0.05). In addition, biodegradable mulch film soil had significantly low ratio of cy17:0 to $16:1{\omega}7c$ and cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ compared with those of PE mulch film soil (p < 0.05), indicating that microbial stress decreased. The ratio of cy17:0 to $16:1{\omega}7c$ and cy19:0 to $18:1{\omega}7c$ should be considered as a potential responsible factor for the obvious differentiation that was observed between the biodegradable mulch film soil and PE mulch film soil in a upland field. The results of this experimentation show the potential of using biodegradable mulch film in place of PE.