Changes in Soil Microbial Community Structure and Functional Diversity in the Rhizosphere Surrounding Tea and Soybean

Field trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of different planting patterns (tea monocropping, tea and soybean intercropping, soybean monocropping) on microbial community structure and microbial functional diversity using Biolog technique. Results showed that intercropping treatment exhibited higher average well color development (AWCD), diversity indices and community functional diversity as compared with monocropping. The microbial utilization of 6 types of carbon source indicated some differences. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis demonstrated that intercropping treatment significantly changed the functional diversity of the soil microbial community, mainly depending on carbohydrates and carboxylic acids. Our findings suggested that soil microbial metabolic activities and functional diversity were significantly changed by tea-soybean intercropping.