Mixed planting reduces the shaping ability of legume cover crop on soil microbial community structure

Cover crop species and management are the key factors for reaping maximum benefits. Current studies lack a comprehensive assessment of the effects of cover crop species and planting patterns on soil properties, plant properties, and rhizosphere microbial communities at the full-blooming stage. A field experiment was conducted for 8 years (2011–2018) in Tianjin (fluvo-aquic soil) in China to compare various cover crops (hairy vetch, February orchid and rye) under different planting patterns (monoculture or mixed culture) in terms of cover crop biomass, soil physicochemical and biological properties, and rhizosphere microbial communities through high-throughput sequencing. The following groups were established: CK (winter fallow; the control), FO (February orchid monoculture), RY (rye monoculture), HV (hairy vetch monoculture), FOHV (February orchid–hairy vetch mixed culture), and RYHV (rye–hairy vetch mixed culture). RY had the highest biomass and nitrogen (N) uptake, and HV had the lowest biomass and highest N content. Mixed culture produced biomass higher in amount than the average biomass of monocultures of each individual species. RYHV showed a higher amount of biomass and uptake of nutrients, especially N. Cover crop planting significantly increased soil organic matter content (22.45 %–33.22 %), N levels (78.28 %–412.04 %), and available phosphate (9.70 %–45.03 %) and potassium (20.71 %–56.62 %) levels, but no significant differences in soil pH and total phosphorus content were found among the treatments. FO and HV treatments showed higher increments in soil biological properties: soil microbial biomass C (Cmic) and soil microbial biomass N (Nmic) and nematode density than the RY treatment. Mixed planting further promoted these properties, and FOHV treatment showed the highest values, which indicated improved soil properties. HV treatment significantly reduced bacterial and fungal diversity and the number of operational taxonomic units. These effects can be alleviated by mixed planting with FO and RY. Principal component analysis showed that the bacterial and fungal communities in the control were distinct from those in the cover crop treatments, and the difference was the greatest in the HV treatment. However, mixed planting with FO and RY reduced this difference between HV and CK. Structural equation model integration and analysis confirmed that the bacterial community was primarily regulated by soil physicochemical properties, whereas the fungal community was primarily regulated by plant properties. Soil biological properties affected bacterial and fungal communities, and mixed planting alleviated the impact of hairy vetch on soil microbial communities. • Rye had the highest biomass, hairy vetch had the highest nitrogen content. • February orchid and hairy vetch mixed planting improved soil properties the best. • Mixed planting released the impact on soil microbial communities by hairy vetch. • Bacterial community was regulated by soil properties, while fungi community was by plant.