Effects of weed control ecological plastic film mulching on soil physicochemical properties and rhizosphere soil bacterial community in tea garden

【Objective】 This study aimed to evaluate the comprehensive effects of weed control ecological film mul-ching on soil physicochemical properties and rhizosphere soil bacterial community in tea garden， so as to provide theoretical basis for promoting this method and sustainable development of tea gardens.【Method】 Two treatments were set up： mulching with weed control ecological film （T） and no mulching （control， CK）. Weed control efficacy was investigated， tea yield and quality indicators as well as soil physicochemical properties were measured. The structure variation of the rhizosphere microbial community were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing techniques.【Result】 T treatment presented 85.37% fresh weight control efficacy and 83.93% plant control efficacy. Compared with CK， bud density， 100-bud weight， length of one-bud-and-two-leaves in T treatment significantly increased by 49.07%， 16.07%， and 28.59% respectively （P<0.05， the same below）. The contents of tea water extract and tea polyphenols significantly increased by 7.90% and 10.47%. T treatment greatly improved soil physicochemical properties， compared with CK， soil bulk density in T treatment decreased by 9.29%， while moisture content and pH significantly increased by 12.76% and 6.84%. Organic matter， total nitrogen， hydrolyzable nitrogen and available potassium contents increased by 43.59%， 44.83%， 46.10%， and 51.17% respectively. T treatment greatly changed the soil microbial community structure， enriching Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota， promoting the proliferation of beneficial genera like Acidothermus and Trichoderma， while suppre-ssing pathogenic fungi such as Fusarium. The results of the bacterial community function prediction indicated that T treatment greatly enhanced soil carbon and nitrogen cycling related functions such as cellulolysis of bacterial community and nitrogen fixation bacteria. The redundancy analysis results showed that soil organic matter， total potassium， and available potassium were the core driving factors influencing the microbial community structure.【Conclusion】 The weed control ecological film effectively suppresses weeds in tea gardens. It promotes tea plant growth and improves quality by ameliorating soil water and nutrient conditions， optimizing the structure and function of the microbial community. The film can be applied in weed management.