soil microbiota in co-culture ecosystem

Due to the associated food stress and environmental problems, co-culture of rice and aquatic animals, which is regarded to be ecological and healthful, has been rapidly developed in recent years in China. The rice-turtle mode always presented high economic benefits while the culture strategies affected the paddy ecological benefits a lot. In the present study, the effect of turtle stocking density on variation of paddy soil fertility and microbial community in rice-turtle co-culture ecosystem was investigated. Juvenile Chinese soft-shell turtles (Pelodiscus sinensis) were allocated to different experimental paddy fields in gradient stocking densities, which would help to optimize the co-culture modes and provide basis for soil nutrient management.