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Background and aims <p>Earthworms are ecosystem engineers that influence nutrient cycling and soil microbial communities, thereby enhancing crop productivity. Studies remain limited on the effects of <i>in-situ Metaphire guillelmi</i> cultivation combined with straw return in paddy fields on crop production and soil health. <i>Methods</i> A two-year field experiment was conducted with two treatments: conventional rice straw return to the field (CK) and rice straw return combined with <i>M</i>. <i>guillelmi</i> cultivation in situ (SD-EW). Rice production, soil characteristics, and microbial communities were analyzed in the second year, after a one-year stabilization period.</p> Results <p>The SD-EW treatment was associated with improved rice production, including a 4.98% yield increase and a 1.57 percentage point reduction in chalkiness. Meanwhile, the soil available nitrogen, urease activity, and sucrase activity increased by 10.13%, 17.43%, and 74.46%, respectively. As for microbial community, SD-EW tended to enrich putative recalcitrant compound degraders, biocontrol lineages, and nutrient cyclers, such as <i>Pontibacter</i>, <i>Sphingomicrobium</i>, <i>Funneliformis</i>, <i>Lysobacter</i>, and Burkholderiales. Bacterial community exhibited greater sensitivity to earthworm and straw addition than the fungal community. Furthermore, SD-EW was associated with increased relative abundance of genes related to carbon fixation, organic degradation and synthesis, amino acid metabolism, and glycan metabolism.</p> Conclusions <p>SD-EW was associated with directional shifts in soil microbial composition and functional gene profiles consistent with enhanced nutrient cycling potential and improved rice production. These findings highlight the potential of integrating earthworms into sustainable straw return management practices, offering a novel approach to optimize agroecosystem productivity while maintaining efficient biogeochemical cycling processes in paddy soils.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Effects of in-situ Metaphire guillelmi cultivation combined with straw return on soil microbial dynamics, fertility, and rice productivity in paddy fields

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月9日

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  • Naling Bai,
  • Chenglong Xu,
  • Weiguang Lv,
  • Shuangxi Li,
  • Xianpu Zhu,
  • Juanqin Zhang,
  • Haiyun Zhang,
  • Xianqing Zheng,
  • Qun Wang,
  • Hanlin Zhang

摘要

Background and aims

Earthworms are ecosystem engineers that influence nutrient cycling and soil microbial communities, thereby enhancing crop productivity. Studies remain limited on the effects of in-situ Metaphire guillelmi cultivation combined with straw return in paddy fields on crop production and soil health. Methods A two-year field experiment was conducted with two treatments: conventional rice straw return to the field (CK) and rice straw return combined with M. guillelmi cultivation in situ (SD-EW). Rice production, soil characteristics, and microbial communities were analyzed in the second year, after a one-year stabilization period.

Results

The SD-EW treatment was associated with improved rice production, including a 4.98% yield increase and a 1.57 percentage point reduction in chalkiness. Meanwhile, the soil available nitrogen, urease activity, and sucrase activity increased by 10.13%, 17.43%, and 74.46%, respectively. As for microbial community, SD-EW tended to enrich putative recalcitrant compound degraders, biocontrol lineages, and nutrient cyclers, such as Pontibacter, Sphingomicrobium, Funneliformis, Lysobacter, and Burkholderiales. Bacterial community exhibited greater sensitivity to earthworm and straw addition than the fungal community. Furthermore, SD-EW was associated with increased relative abundance of genes related to carbon fixation, organic degradation and synthesis, amino acid metabolism, and glycan metabolism.

Conclusions

SD-EW was associated with directional shifts in soil microbial composition and functional gene profiles consistent with enhanced nutrient cycling potential and improved rice production. These findings highlight the potential of integrating earthworms into sustainable straw return management practices, offering a novel approach to optimize agroecosystem productivity while maintaining efficient biogeochemical cycling processes in paddy soils.

Graphical Abstract