Comprehensive ecological effect of straw mulch on spring wheat field in dryland area

The experiments have been conducted to study the changes of soil temperature, moisture, nutrients and microbe in wheat field under the condition of straw mulch. The main conclusions were: (1) Straw mulching could apparently adjust soil temperature of the upper layer (0～10 cm). Soil temperature was increased when the air temperature was low and was decreased when the air temperature was high. (2) Effect of watestorage and waterconservation caused by straw mulch were very apparent in the soil layer of 0 to 40 cm, and the effect was increased with the increase of straw mulch. Straw mulch could improve the WUE by 9.61%～20.93%. (3) In the top soil layer (0～40 cm), the changes of total N, total P were not obvious during the growth period of wheat, but the content of organic matter and available K was increased. (4) Straw mulch could increase the amount of soil bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi. The changes of soil microbe obviously caused the changes of microbe species, so the microecological environment of springwheat field was improved. All in all, proper straw mulch was beneficial to harmonize soil heat and soil moisture, and create a suitable growing environment for spring wheat. As a result, the yield of spring wheat was increased by 12.47%～29.63%. \;