Riparian land-use systems impact soil microbial communities and nitrous oxide emissions in an agro-ecosystem.

Riparian buffer systems (RBS) are considered a best management practice (BMP) in agricultural landscapes to intercept soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) leaching and surface runoff into aquatic ecosystems. However, these environmental benefits could be offset by increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including nitrous oxide (N2O). The main sources of N2O in soil are linked to processes which are mediated by soil microbial communities. These microorganisms play crucial roles in N-cycling and in the reduction of nitrate to N2, and N2O gases. This study was conducted to determine the abundance and diversity of microbial communities and functional genes associated with N-cycling and their influence on N2O emissions in different riparian land-use: undisturbed natural forest (UNF), rehabilitated site (RH), grass buffer (GRB), and an adjacent agricultural land (AGR). Soil was sampled concurrently with N2O emissions on July 13, 2017. DNA was extracted and used to target key N-cycling genes for N-fixation (nifH), nitrification: (amoA), and denitrification (nirS, nirK, and nosZ) via quantitative PCR, and for high throughput sequencing of total bacterial and fungal communities. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) was used to examine microbial community composition and indicated significant differences in bacterial (p < 0.001) and fungal (p < 0.0085) communities between sites. Bacterial abundance differed significantly (p = 0.0005) between RBS and AGR sites with the highest populations occurring in the UNF (2.1 × 1010 copies g-1 dry soil), and lowest in AGR (5.3 × 109 copies g-1 dry soil). However, the AGR site had the highest ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) abundance, indicating that nitrification is highest at this site. The abundance of the nosZ gene was highest in RH and GRB demonstrating the capacity for complete denitrification at these sites, lowering measured N2O. These results suggest N-cycling microbial community dynamics differ among RBS and are influencing N2O emissions in the sites investigated.