Cover crops can change the populations and activities of beneficial soil bacteria in citrus groves, potentially influencing nutrient cycling and soil health, according to new research conducted in Florida.
The three-year study, conducted from 2022 to 2024 in Fort Pierce, Florida, examined how seasonal cover cropping affected soil microbial communities in grapefruit, lemon and sweet orange groves. Researchers compared conventional grove floor management with warm- and cool-season cover crop mixtures.
The researchers found that cover cropping produced modest but measurable changes in soil bacterial communities, particularly bacteria associated with nitrogen transformations, carbon metabolism and other nutrient-related processes. However, the response depended on citrus variety and season. Grapefruit groves generally showed more noticeable differences between cover crop and conventional treatments than lemon and orange groves.
The study also found that citrus variety was a stronger influence on bacterial community composition than cover cropping itself.
Fungal communities, meanwhile, remained relatively stable under both management systems. Seasonal conditions appeared to have a greater influence on fungal populations than cover crop treatments.
For citrus growers, the findings provide additional evidence that cover crops can influence the biological activity of orchard soils. Soil microorganisms play important roles in breaking down organic matter and cycling nutrients, potentially helping make nutrients available to trees.
However, researchers caution that cover cropping does not produce uniform microbial responses across citrus varieties and growing conditions. Additional research is needed to better understand these changes and develop targeted cover crop recommendations.
The findings reinforce the potential of cover crops as one component of long-term soil health management in Florida citrus production.
An article, “Shifts in Soil Microbial Communities Under Cover Cropping in Citrus Orchards,” about the research was published Nov. 4 in Agronomy. The research team included Khalid Hussain, Lorenzo Rossi, Ying Wang, Yinuo Xu and Eric B. Duell of Texas A&M University; and Lukas M. Hallman, John-Paul Fox, Mark A. Ritenour and Davie M. Kadyampakeni of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
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