Contrast in soil microbial metabolic functional diversity to fertilization and crop rotation under rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere in the coal gangue landfill reclamation area of Loess Hills

Very poor reclaimed soil quality and weak microbial activity occur in the reclamation area of a coal gangue landfill in the Loess Hills. The fourth and fifth years after farmland soil was reclaimed were studied, and the changes in and carbon source utilization characteristics of rhizosphere (R) and non-rhizosphere (S) soil microorganisms under organic and inorganic (OF), inorganic (F), and organic (O) fertilizer application and a control treatment (CK) in soybean (S) and maize (M) rotation systems were compared and analysed in Guljiao Tunlan, Shanxi Province, China. Biolog-EcoPlate technology was used to analyse the mechanism of soil characteristic change from the perspective of soil microbial metabolism function to provide a theoretical basis for reclamation and ecological reconstruction in this area. The average well colour development (AWCD) absorption and Shannon-Wiener index values of soybean and maize rhizosphere microorganisms were higher than those of non-rhizosphere microorganisms, and the mean value of the fertilizer treatment was higher than that for CK. Principal component analysis shows the main carbon sources that impact the functional diversity of the soybean rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil communities are a-cyclodextrin, a-D-lactose, ß-methyl D-glucoside, and glucose-1-phosphate and L-phenylalanine, while those for the maize rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil communities are D-cellobiose, glucose-1-phosphate, ß-methyl D-glucoside, methyl pyruvate, D-galactosate gamma lactone, D-mannitol, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-galactosalonic acid, and L-serine. The comprehensive utilization score of the non-rhizosphere soil carbon source in the maize season increased with respect to that in the soybean season, and the maximum increase was 1.09 under the OF treatment. Redundancy analysis showed that the soil nutrient factors driving the changes in the metabolic function diversity index values of the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil microbial communities in the different crop seasons in the reclamation area differed, but they were all related to the soil organic matter and available phosphorus. This may explain why OF treatment is the most beneficial to soil fertility under the rotation system in mining reclamation areas.