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Purpose <p>This study evaluated how poultry manure-derived biochar influences the structure, diversity, and co-occurrence networks of soil bacterial communities in nutrient-poor tropical sandy soils. We examined the trade-off between improved soil fertility and potential simplification of microbial networks, testing the hypothesis that high biochar rates would enhance nutrient availability but reduce microbial complexity and diversity.</p> Methods <p>A field experiment was conducted over two years in sandy soils of northeastern Brazil, applying poultry biochar. We used six treatments: (a) control (no amendments), (b) low-rate biochar (Bio_10t = 10 t ha⁻¹), (c) high-rate biochar (Bio_40t = 40 t ha⁻¹), (d) chicken manure (E.Av = 5 t ha⁻¹), (e) synthetic mineral fertilizer (Mineral = NPK), and (f) poultry manure (C.Av = 10 t ha⁻¹). Soil chemical properties were assessed, and bacterial communities were analyzed using 16&#xa0;S rRNA gene sequencing. Network analyses were performed using SparCC and NetCoMi, and multivariate statistics determined key environmental drivers.</p> Results <p>High biochar inputs increased organic C, P, and K levels, leading to a distinct shift in microbial community structure. However, this nutrient enrichment reduced amplicon sequence variants richness by 22.4% (from 3,250 to 2,521) and Shannon diversity by 3.6% (from 7.16 to 6.90) relative to the control. Network analysis showed substantial simplification of microbial interactions: the control treatment had 3,116 co-occurrence edges, which fell to 1,423 under low biochar (Bio_10t) and 1,849 under high biochar (Bio_40t)—reductions of 54% and 40%, respectively.</p> Conclusions <p>Our findings underscore a trade-off: while poultry biochar effectively enhances soil fertility, excessive application may disrupt microbial diversity and interaction networks, potentially compromising long-term soil resilience. These results highlight the need to optimize biochar rates to balance immediate fertility gains with preservation of microbial ecological stability in fragile sandy soils.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>

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Nutrient Enrichment by Poultry Biochar Reshapes Soil Microbial Networks, Reducing Interaction Complexity in Tropical Sandy Soils

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月6日

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  • Avete Vieira Lima,
  • Diogo Paes da Costa,
  • Gustavo Pereira Duda,
  • Jamilly Alves de Barros,
  • Rafaela da Conceição Santos,
  • Sabrina Esposito Oliveira da Mota,
  • José Romualdo de Sousa Lima,
  • Vanilson Pedro da Silva,
  • Márcio Henrique Leal Lopes,
  • Claude Hammecker,
  • Arthur Prudêncio de Araujo Pereira,
  • Lucas William Mendes,
  • Ademir Sergio Ferreira Araujo,
  • Erika Valente de Medeiros

摘要

Purpose

This study evaluated how poultry manure-derived biochar influences the structure, diversity, and co-occurrence networks of soil bacterial communities in nutrient-poor tropical sandy soils. We examined the trade-off between improved soil fertility and potential simplification of microbial networks, testing the hypothesis that high biochar rates would enhance nutrient availability but reduce microbial complexity and diversity.

Methods

A field experiment was conducted over two years in sandy soils of northeastern Brazil, applying poultry biochar. We used six treatments: (a) control (no amendments), (b) low-rate biochar (Bio_10t = 10 t ha⁻¹), (c) high-rate biochar (Bio_40t = 40 t ha⁻¹), (d) chicken manure (E.Av = 5 t ha⁻¹), (e) synthetic mineral fertilizer (Mineral = NPK), and (f) poultry manure (C.Av = 10 t ha⁻¹). Soil chemical properties were assessed, and bacterial communities were analyzed using 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. Network analyses were performed using SparCC and NetCoMi, and multivariate statistics determined key environmental drivers.

Results

High biochar inputs increased organic C, P, and K levels, leading to a distinct shift in microbial community structure. However, this nutrient enrichment reduced amplicon sequence variants richness by 22.4% (from 3,250 to 2,521) and Shannon diversity by 3.6% (from 7.16 to 6.90) relative to the control. Network analysis showed substantial simplification of microbial interactions: the control treatment had 3,116 co-occurrence edges, which fell to 1,423 under low biochar (Bio_10t) and 1,849 under high biochar (Bio_40t)—reductions of 54% and 40%, respectively.

Conclusions

Our findings underscore a trade-off: while poultry biochar effectively enhances soil fertility, excessive application may disrupt microbial diversity and interaction networks, potentially compromising long-term soil resilience. These results highlight the need to optimize biochar rates to balance immediate fertility gains with preservation of microbial ecological stability in fragile sandy soils.

Graphical Abstract