Soil microbial function and community composition responses to winter legume cover crop under high tunnel pepper production

Abstract

High tunnel use on the rise. Intensive cropping under high tunnel environment may lead to soil degradation. Winter legume cover crops have been widely adopted in organic system as soil amendments. Soil microbes are integral part of soil and their activity and community composition is indicative of the soil condition. Present study investigated the shift in microbial community composition and activity in response to various cover crop treatments.