Differences in cover cropping management affect soil nitrogen, carbon characteristics, and fungal community composition in a vineyard in North China

Cover cropping is widely used for soil management in vineyards. But few studies have compared the effect of different cover cropping management methods on soil properties and fungal communities in vineyards. Therefore, we examined the effects of traditional management (shallow tillage to remove weeds), cover with single species (two treatments covered with different herbages), cover with mixed species (two combination treatments named M1 and M2 respectively), and cover with a crop on soil physicochemical properties and fungal community structure in a vineyard in northern China in 2020 and 2021. Soil total carbon and mineral nitrogen increased under Carex lanceolata Boott, Medicago sativa L., M1, and M2 covers but decreased under Glycine max (L.) Merr. Compare to traditional management. Soil organic carbon content increased under Carex lanceolata Boott, Medicago sativa L., M1, and M2, with increasing planting time. Cover cropping management had a minor effect on fungal diversity in the short term. Effects on beneficial and pathogenic fungi varied with cover type. With a cover of Glycine max (L.) Merr, the abundance of Fusarium brachygibbosum, a pathogen that affects grape production, increased, but that of Chaetomium, a genus that inhibits pathogens, also increased. With a cover of Carex lanceolata Boott, the abundance of Didymella glomerata, another pathogen that affects grape production, increased, but that of Metarhizium, an entomopathogenic fungus, also increased. Compared with Carex lanceolata Boott, covers with mixed species (M1 and M2) showed minor effects on soil pathogens, so covers with mixed species could benefit the vineyards more than other cover cropping management in North China.