The Influence of Human Agricultural Activities on the Quality of Selected Fluvisols from the Vistula River Valley, Poland—Preliminary Research

Abstract

Studies on the impact of human agricultural activities on the soil microbiome and soil quality are extremely important, but such studies on floodplains in river valleys are lacking. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine the impact of blackcurrant cultivation on Fluvisols located in the Vistula River valley (Poland). The dehydrogenases (DHa) and phosphatases (acid-AcP, and alkaline-AlP) activities, carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) contents of the microbial biomass, the metabolic potential of the microbial community (EcoPlate™ Biolog) and taxonomic diversity of the soil microbiome were determined (next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene). Enzymatic activity and metabolic potential and diversity (EcoPlate™) were higher in the soils from meadows, but MBC and MBN and biodiversity indices derived from NGS were higher in the cultivated soils. It can be confirmed that human activities affect the physicochemical, biological and microbiological parameters of Fluvisols. This may indicate that microorganisms are numerically more abundant and taxonomically more diverse in the cultivated soils, but are more active in the soils from meadows.

Keywords

• blackcurrant crop
• land use
• microorganisms
• riverside
• soil quality