Effects of Intercropping between Mulberry and Alfalfa on Soil Enzyme Activities and Microbial Community Diversity in Rhizophere

The effects of intercropping between mulberry and alfalfa on the enzyme activities and functional diversities of rhizophere soil microbial community were investigated comparing with mulberry monoculture and alfalfa monoculture in the field experiment.The results showed that the invertase and peroxidase activities of intercropping alfalfa increased 30.0%and 21.4%compared to monoculture alfalfa,respectively;the acid phosphatase activities of intercropping mulberry and intercropping alfalfa raised 23.0%and 28.9%compared to monocultures,respectively.The activities of the enzymes were significant differences between monoculture and intercropping.In mulberry and alfalfa intercropping system,average well color development(AWCD) symbolized the metabolic activities of soil microbes.Shanon index,Simpson index,and Mcintosh index of intercropping mulberry were higher than that of monoculture,while theses indexes in intercropping alfalfa were lower than that of monoculture.Principal component analysis(PCA) showed that the main carbon source types of intercropping and monoculture were different,the main carbon sources of intercropping alfalfa changed into amino acid,polymers and miscellaneous.The research indicated that the intercropping system enhanced the diversity of rhizophere soil microbial community of mulberry,and changed the main carbon source types of rhizophere soil microbial community of alfalfa.The effects of intercropping patterns on soil enzyme activities were different.