To investigate the effects of root morphology and rhizosphere soil nitrogen cycling enzyme activities on interspecific nitrogen (N) competition and uptake in an oat-soybean strip intercropping system, a field experiment was established in Zhangbei County, Hebei Province in 2019. Three cropping patterns were designed: Oat-soybean strip intercropping (IOS), oat monoculture (MO), and soybean monoculture (MS). During the oat jointing and filling stages in 2021, the aboveground biomass, N uptake, root morphological parameters (root dry weight density, root length density, root surface area density and root volume density) in the 0-20 cm soil layer, and rhizosphere soil β-N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) and L-leucine aminopeptidase (LEU) activities of both crops were measured. One-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis were used to examine changes in root morphology and rhizosphere enzyme activities of both crops and their driving effects on N uptake in the intercropping system. The results showed that the N uptake equivalent ratio of the intercropping system decreased from 1.05 at the jointing stage to 0.86 at the filling stage. At the oat jointing stage, intercropped oat showed no significant changes in root dry weight density, root length density, root surface area density, or root volume density compared with monocultured oat, yet N uptake was 24.0% higher than that of monoculture oat. At oat jointing stage, intercropped soybean showed a 13.8% decrease in N uptake compared with monoculture (P<0.05). Its roots became thinner and longer,root length density increased by 26.9% (P<0.05), while root dry weight density, root surface area density and root volume density decreased by 20.9% to 41.0% (P<0.05). At the oat filling stage, intercropped oat increased N uptake by 17.9% (P<0.05). Root dry weight density, root length density and root volume density increased by 28.2% to 63.2% (P<0.05). Rhizosphere soil NAG and LEU activities increased by 17.5% and 39.8% (P<0.05), respectively. Although intercropped soybean showed 28.2% and 26.1% increases in rhizosphere NAG and LEU activities (P<0.05), its root dry weight and root volume density decreased by 33.2% and 50.4% (P<0.05), and finally its N uptake decreased by 47.7% (P<0.05). In conclusion, the oat-soybean intercropping system exhibited an advantage in N uptake at the oat jointing stage, but the increase in N uptake by intercropped oat at the filling stage could not compensate for the decrease in N uptake by intercropped soybean, causing the system’s N uptake advantage to shift from strong to weak. Therefore, in oat-soybean strip intercropping systems, special attention should be paid to N supply to soybean at the oat filling stage to maintain the balance of N uptake advantage and productivity of the intercropping system throughout the entire growing season.
禾本科与豆科作物间作,能够充分发挥不同作物间的生态位互补效应,实现对光照、水分、养分等资源的高效利用,被广泛认为是一种提升系统生产力和养分利用率的种植模式[1-2]。这种优势在很大程度上源于2种作物对根系氮素竞争与互补的利用,这一地下生态过程呈现出鲜明的时空动态性[3]。燕麦(Avena sativa L.)作为一种重要的粮饲兼用作物,广泛种植于我国北方的干旱和半干旱地区[4]。大豆(Glycine max L.)是重要的油料作物,同时也是典型的固氮作物,能为系统提供额外的氮素输入[5-6]。燕麦大豆带状间作模式在我国北方农牧交错地区表现出显著的产量优势,具有广阔的应用潜力[2]。因此,在全球粮食需求持续增长、氮肥利用率普遍低下的背景下,如何在减少氮肥投入的同时维持或提升作物生产力,已成为构建绿色高效农业体系的核心科学问题[7-8]。解析间作系统中不同生育时期燕麦、大豆的根系形态和对氮素的吸收利用特征对于优化栽培管理具有重要意义。
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