Nutrient Cycling Enzymes and Microbial Community Shifts in An Organic Sod-Based Vegetable Rotation.

An organically managed vegetable rotation comprising green beans, soybeans, and broccoli with oats/ryegrass as winter cover crop was introduced into plots that had previously been in either one, two, or three years of bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Fluegge). Treatments also included two tillage types: conventional and strip till. We compared activity of nutrient cycling enzymes (acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, beta glucosidase, beta glucosaminidase, and arylsulfatase) and microbial community shifts using automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) in the various treatments to assess effect of crop management on these soil indicators. Tillage seemed to be a significant factor affecting enzyme activity as well as bacterial and fungal community shifts. The number of years that the plots had previously been in bahiagrass did not seem to affect these parameters significantly.