Impact of cropping systems on microbial communities

In a long-term agricultural field experiment incorporating conventional, integrated, conservation and organic cropping systems, the effects of sampling time, cropping system, mineral nitrogen application, and crop harvest and fallow period on the disturbance of prokaryotes, fungal and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi communities were investigated. In the spatially and temporally variable in situ environment, communities that display high richness, resilience and resistance may be more likely to ensure a stable rate of ecosystem processes.