@article{fdi:010062372,
  title = {{I}ncrease in microbial biomass and phosphorus availability in the rhizosphere of intercropped cereal and legumes under field conditions},
  author = {{T}ang, {X}. {Y}. and {B}ernard, {L}aetitia and {B}rauman, {A}lain and {D}aufresne, {T}. and {D}eleporte, {P}. and {D}esclaux, {D}. and {S}ouche, {G}. and {P}lacella, {S}. {A}. and {H}insinger, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{F}acilitation of plant growth and phosphorus ({P}) acquisition has recently been reported in cereal legume intercropping systems. {T}he aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that intercropping could promote {P} cycling, through microbial biomass {P} ({MBP}) changes, in a field trial in a {M}editerranean climate. {C}hanges in microbial biomass carbon ({MBC}), {MBP}, and inorganic {P} availability in the rhizosphere of intercropped species were thus investigated in durum wheat/chickpea and durum wheat/lentil intercrops and compared to the bulk soils as well as the rhizosphere of each species grown alone. {W}hen expressed relative to the bulk soil, {MBC} increased in the rhizosphere only for the intercropped plants, irrespective of species. {R}elative to {MBC} in the rhizosphere of sole crops, {MBC} increased in the rhizosphere of the two legume species when intercropped with durum wheat, while no such effect was found for durum wheat. {W}e were unable to detect an increase in {P} availability in the rhizosphere as a response to intercropping in any of the three crop species, but there was a systematic increase in available {P} in the rhizosphere relative to the corresponding bulk soil. {F}airly similar patterns were observed for {MBP} as for {MBC}, except within the rhizosphere of durum wheat when intercropped with chickpea: relative to the bulk soil, {MBP} increased in the rhizosphere of both lentil and chickpea when intercropped with durum wheat as well as in the rhizosphere of durum wheat when intercropped with chickpea. {T}he differences in microbial biomass changes for a given cereal (durum wheat) when intercropped with two different legumes, suggest that plants have strong species-specific influences on each other as well as on the soil environment. {T}he molar ratios of {MBC} to {MBP} ({MM} {C}:{P}) did not vary significantly except for the rhizosphere of durum wheat intercropped with chickpea, which was fairly low (16:1), about half the values found in the other treatments (26-40:1). {T}hese {MM} {C}:{P} values were lower than those generally reported in soils (38-60:1), verifying the hypothesis that microbes can increase storage of soil {P}in their biomass, creating stocks of microbial {P} in the soil when {P} availability is high. {I}n this {M}editerranean climate where surface soils undergo frequent drying-rewetting, known for liberation of microbial biomass, {MBP} could be an important factor influencing {P} availability. {T}ogether, our data demonstrate the importance of intercropping to soil {P} cycling and highlight the need to examine the rhizosphere of each intercropped species to truly understand how the soil {P} resource is shared in such agroecosystems.},
  keywords = {{F}acilitation ; {I}ntercropping ; {P} availability ; {M}icrobial biomass ; {S}toichiometry ; {FRANCE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{S}oil {B}iology and {B}iochemistry},
  volume = {75},
  numero = {},
  pages = {86--93},
  ISSN = {0038-0717},
  year = {2014},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.04.001},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010062372},
}