Effects of fish protein fertilizer on soil properties, bamboo growth and bamboo shoot yield of Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ) forest

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-4475990/v1

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Effects of fish protein fertilizer on soil properties, bamboo growth and bamboo shoot yield of Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ) forest

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4475990/v1

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Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ) is a high economic value species with high yield and good quality of bamboo shoots. However, heavy chemical fertilizer and covering cultivation are used to produce off-season bamboo shoots, resulting in soil degradation and a decline in soil productivity. This study introduced an amino acid fertilizer called fish protein fertilizer to replace part of chemical fertilizer, and investigated the effect of different fertilizer combinations on bamboo growth, shoot yield and soil properties to clarify the growth-promoting mechanism of amino acid fertilizer. Results showed that after replacing 45 kg of compound fertilizer with 10 kg or 20 kg of fish protein fertilizer (1) bamboo shoot yield increased by 23.24% or 26.19%, respectively; (2) growth of leaves and roots were enhanced, thick root proportion increased, and proportion of root in the topsoil layer decreased; (3) soil pH, contents of AP (available phosphate), SOC (soil organic carbon), MBC (microbial biomass carbon) and MBN (microbial biomass nitrogen), soil enzyme activity increased; (4) contents of N and P in leaf increased, while the N/P and K/P decreased. Overall, amino acid fertilizer can promote microbial growth and improve soil enzyme activity through supplying carbon sources and nitrogen sources, thus promoting phosphorus activation and increasing soil phosphorus effectiveness, and then improving the foraging scale of root systems, and ultimately enhancing nutrients absorption and increasing bamboo shoot yield.

Biological sciences/Ecology

Biological sciences/Plant sciences

Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ

amino acid fertilizer

bamboo shoot

soil properties

root morphology

Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ) is an excellent bamboo species in China because of its early germination time, high yield and good quality of bamboo shoot. It is widely cultivated in Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian Province and other regions in China, with great economic value ^1,2. It is a fast-growing forest resource which can reproduce asexually through its rhizome with many shoot. The shoot on the rhizome can grow rapidly into bamboo in spring and summer or be harvested when edible in spring ³. However, the time of Lei bamboo shoot is similar to many other bamboo species, resulting in the low price of Lei bamboo shoot. In order to improve the profits of bamboo forest, in the past 20 years, people have applied the covering heating technology (covering fertilizer, straw, rice bran to raise the temperature of soil) to the cultivation process of Lei bamboo, which advanced the time of bamboo shoot and increased the yield and price of bamboo shoot ⁴. But a large amount of chemical fertilizer was invested in the cultivation process of Lei bamboo, leading to ecological problems such as productivity decline, soil salt agglomeration, mineralization of organic matter, reduction of trace elements effectiveness and water eutrophication ^1,5. The application of large fertilizers poses significant risks to the health quality of plants, animals, humans and ecosystems⁶. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate more optimized fertilization methods to alleviate the effects of excessive fertilizer application on bamboo forest ecology.

Numerous studies have shown that reducing chemical fertilizer and increasing the source of soil organic nutrients are sustainable ways to alleviate the above ecological problems⁷. Replacing chemical fertilizer with environmentally friendly organic fertilizer or biological fertilizer with a relatively low content of mineral elements has been applied to agricultural production, and has played a significant effect in improving the production and quality of seed or fruit⁸. For instance, organic fertilizers such as biomass charcoal and fermented animal manure can replace part of chemical fertilizers, and can improve the nutrient retention, and increase pH and organic carbon content of soil^9,10. The application of organic fertilizer can also optimize the porosity, bulk density, water retention capacity, and carbon stability of soil, and can also improve the diversity of microorganisms^11,12. In recent years, amino acid fertilizers formed by microbial decomposition of animal and plant residues have also shown excellent soil improvement and growth promotion effect¹³. Chelating compounds synthesized by a variety of amino acids and nutrient elements are considered safe and efficient to provide nitrogen to the plant and reduce the negative effects of applying chemical fertilizers such as urea and compound fertilizer⁶. Some organic fertilizers rich in amino acids can significantly promote the root and accumulation of protein and starch in graminaceous plants, so they are also known as stimulators for plant growth¹⁴. Humic acid in the organic fertilizer was also confirmed to have the functions of slowing nitrogen release, enhancing phosphorus activation, reducing potassium leaching, and activating micronutrients, which can be applied as an excellent fertilizer enhancer combined with chemical fertilizer¹⁵. These fertilizers are basically to improve the nutrient uptake capacity of plants or change the physical and chemical properties of the soil rather than directly provide a large number of nutrient elements, so they need to be applied with chemical fertilizer¹².

Although organic fertilizers such as amino acid fertilizers have been applied to the cultivation of vegetables, fruits and grains^14,16 have not been applied to bamboo, and there was not enough knowledge regarding the mechanisms by which amino acid fertilizers improve soil ecology and promote plant growth. In general, plants can not absorb large amounts of amino acids, nor can they directly absorb organic matter. So the direct effect of amino acid fertilizer on plants is secondary¹⁷. In fact, the effects of amino acid fertilizers on soil biological and abiotic factors and the relationship of these factors to root and aboveground growth should be more concerned. Hence, we introduced a fish protein fertilizer fermented from the deep-sea fish waste, and carried out the fertilization test based on this fertilizer in the Lei bamboo forest. The effects of different combinations of chemical fertilizers and fish protein fertilizer on the soil physicochemical properties, soil enzymes, bamboo biomass allocation and nutrient element accumulation were studied. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the effect of amino acid fertilizer on the yield of Lei bamboo shoot, and find out the optimal combination of amino acid fertilizer and chemical fertilizer and (2) identify the relationship between soil physical and chemical properties, soil biological factors and bamboo growth, and clarify the promotion mechanism of amino acid fertilizer. These results are valuable for the efficient utilization of fertilizer, food security and the sustainable management of the bamboo forests.

Effect of fertilization on soil element contents. Compared with the treatments T1 and T2, treatments T3 and T4 increased the pH of the two soil layers(Fig. 1A). For the 0-15cm layer, TN, TK and TP under treatment T1 were greater than those under treatment T2. For the 15-30cm layer, TN, TK and TP did not differ significantly among the four treatments (Fig. 1B, C and D). Compared with treatment T2, treatments T1 and T4 increased AN of the two soil layers significantly (Fig. 1E). AK of the 0-15cm layer under the treatments T1 and T3 were larger than that under treatments T1 and T2. For the 15-30cm layer, AK did not differ significantly among the four treatments (Fig. 1F). The AP and SOC of both soil layers under treatments T3 and T4 were larger than those under treatments T1 and T2 significantly (Fig. 1G and H).

Effect of fertilization on soil enzyme activities, MBC and MBN. The acid phosphatase of both soil layers under the T3 and T4 treatments was significantly larger than that under the treatments T1 and T2 (Fig. 2A). Compared with treatments T1 and T2, T4 enhanced the urease activity of the two soil layers significantly, and treatment T3 increased the urease activity of 15-30cm layers significantly. The sucrase activity of both soil layers under treatments T3 and T4 was greater than that under T1 and T2, but only T4 was significant (Fig. 2B and C). Compared with treatments T1 and T2, T3 and T4 increased the MBC and MBN of the two soil layers significantly (Fig. 2D and E).

Effect of fertilization on root distribution and root morphology. Compared with treatments T1 and T2, treatments T3 and T4 increased the root dry weight of the two soil layers and reduced the ratio of root dry weight in the 0-15cm soil layer (Fig. 3A). Similarly, the T3 and T4 treatments increased the root length and root surface area of the two soil layers and decreased the ratio of the root in the 0–15cm soil layer (Fig. 3B and C). The T3 and T4 treatments increased the average root diameter and decreased the specific root length of the two soil layers significantly compared with the T1 and T2 treatments (Fig. 4). To explore the reason for the significant difference in the average root diameter among the four treatments, we graded the roots according to the diameter and obtained the ratio of the root length for each diameter grade. Compared with T1 and T2 treatments, T4 treatment significantly increased the length ratio of thick roots (diameter ≥ 2mm) in the 0–15 cm soil layers and reduced the length ratio of roots with a diameter grade of 0.2-0.4mm (Fig. 5A). The length ratio of thick roots in the 15-30cm soil layer was also increased by T4 treatment (Fig. 5B).

Effect of fertilization on the nutrient element contents in bamboo leaves. Compared with treatment T2, treatments T3 and T4 increased the Leaf N significantly. Leaf N under treatment T4 was significantly greater than under treatment T1. Compared with treatments T1 and T2, treatments T3 and T4 increased the Leaf P and decreased the Leaf N/P and Leaf K/P significantly. Leaf K and Leaf N/K did not differ among the four treatments significantly (Fig. 6).

Effect of fertilization on bamboo growth. The fresh weight and DBH and shoot yield were significantly affected by different fertilization treatments (Fig. 7). The total fresh weight of the aboveground part under T4 treatment was significantly greater than T1 and T2 (P < 0.05). The fresh weight of bamboo leaves under T4 and T3 treatments was significantly greater than that under T1 and T2 treatments, while the fresh weight of canes varied not significantly among the four treatments. The T4 treatment increased the DBH of bamboo significantly Compared with T2, while the difference between the remaining treatments was not significant. The shoot yield did not differ significantly between the T1 and T2 treatments or between T3 and T4. The shoot yield under T3 and T4 treatments was significantly greater than that under the treatments T1 and T2. The yield under T4 treatment was the highest, which increased by 26.19% Compared with T1 treatment and by 36.69% Compared with T2 treatment.

Relationships among soil properties, shoot yield, leaf nutrients content and root length. SY, TB and RL were significantly positively correlated with SOC, AP, MBC, MBN and three soil enzyme activities. AP was significantly positively correlated with MBC, MBN and Acp activity. Leaf N, and Leaf P were significantly positively correlated with RL and AP. TB and SY were significantly positively correlated with Leaf N, Leaf P and RL (Fig. 8).

Effect of fertilization on bamboo growth and shoot yield. In our study, reducing chemical fertilizer and applying fish protein fertilizer promoted bamboo growth and increased the shoot yield which is basically in line with previous result¹⁶. Souri et al. reported that amino acid fertilizer can promote plant growth by enhancing chlorophyll formation and photosynthesis of leaves⁶. Ghoname et al. has found that amino acid fertilizer can promote the growth of pepper organs including stem, leaves and fruits¹⁸. However, unlike previous studies, the effect of fish protein fertilizer to promote bamboo leaf growth seems to be more significant than that for bamboo canes. The biomass and thickness of the bamboo canes were not elevated significantly. It may be that the thickening growth of bamboo is completed before the heightening growth, and the bamboo heightening process is nearly finished at the beginning of fertilization in May, so the fertilization has less impact on the DBH and canes biomass¹⁹.

Compared with T1, the bamboo growth and the shoot yield were increased under T3 and T4 treatments, but the content of soil nutrient elements closely related to the bamboo growth did not increase, such as N and K. This may be because fish protein fertilizer enhanced the nutrient uptake capacity of roots, and is less effective in improving N and K in soil than compound fertilizer. In our study, the addition of fish protein fertilizer promoted the root elongation and the extension of the root surface area (Fig. 3). The distribution of roots also changed, such as roots under T3 and T4 treatments had a higher proportion of roots distributed in the 15–30 cm soil layer compared with T1 and T2, indicating that the application of fish protein fertilizer improves the foraging scale of roots and reduces the competition for resources within roots. The T3 and T4 treatments significantly increased the root diameter and decreased the specific root length, compared with the T1 and T2 treatments (Fig. 4), which was almost similar to previous result¹⁶. In addition, under the action of fish protein fertilizer, bamboo increased the input of root construction cost, such as the proportion of thick roots and the decrease of longer root. The increase in thick root proportion may be one of the key reasons for the improvement of nutrient uptake and transportation capacity of bamboo roots²⁰. Alternatively, from the results of the correlation (Fig. 8), the rise of soil AP may be an important factor in inducing root expansion and thickening. Previous studies also found that higher soil AP significantly increased root density and root diameter²¹.

Effect of fertilization on physical and chemical properties of soil. In this study, the application of fish protein fertilizer increased the soil pH and alleviated the soil acidification to some extent, which is not consistent with previous results. Han et al. reported that soil pH significantly decreased from 9.1 to 8.97 after organic fertilizer application (P < 0.01)¹². This discrepancy might be attributed to variance in the soil type, as proposed by Wei et al. who found that the application of organic fertilizer can reduce the pH in alkaline soil or raise the pH in acidic soil²². In this study, the replacement of a portion of the chemical fertilizer with fish protein fertilizer resulted in no significant increase in TN, TP, TK, AN and AK which is different from previous study¹². It may be because fish protein fertilizer with low nutrient elements content has little input of nutrient elements to the soil, while the increase of bamboo biomass and yield consumes more amounts of nutrient elements. The application of fish protein fertilizer containing a large amount of organic matter increased the content of SOC, which is consistent with previous results. Surprisingly, the amount of AP in soil increased under T3 and T4, even if the amount of P in the fish protein fertilizer was very low. This may be because organic fertilizer promotes the growth of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria in soil or enhances the secretion of organic acids and phosphatases of roots, thus promoting the activation of P ^23–25. From the result of the correlation, the increase in AP content benefited from the increase in microbial biomass and Acp activity (Fig. 8). A large number of studies have shown that the addition of organic fertilizer can significantly promote the growth of microorganisms and change the microbial community, the proliferation of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria may therefore be promoted¹¹. Cai et al. also reported that SOC input increased the nutrient availability by regulating soil physical and chemical properties²⁶.

Effect of fertilization on soil enzymes, MBN and MBC. Cycling and transformation of soil mineral elements requires the involvement of a range of enzymes, such as urease, sucrase and Acp²⁷. Urease can catalyze the hydrolysis of urea in soil, and produce ammonia and carbon dioxide. Its activity reflects the transformation and utilization efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. Our study found that fish protein fertilizer increased the activity of urease and promoted the conversion of chemical fertilizer. Previous studies have different findings that urease activity is unchanged or even reduced after the application of organic fertilizer²⁸. This may be related to the time of sampling and the components of organic fertilizer, for example, excessive humic acid in organic fertilizer can cause a decrease in urease activity in the early stage of application²⁹. In this study, the activity of sucrase and Acp increased significantly after the application of fish protein fertilizer, which is consistent with previous results³⁰. This indicates that fish protein fertilizer improves the conversion of soil organic carbon and the activation efficiency of phosphorus, which may be the key cause for the improvement of MBC and AP. The application of organic fertilizer can significantly increase the SOC, provide sufficient carbon and nitrogen source for microorganisms, improve microbial activity, and promote the synthesis of extracellular enzymes, thus improving the conversion and utilization efficiency of organic matter and nutrients³¹. The application of fish protein fertilizer increased the MBC and MBN in the soil because of substantial exogenous carbon and nitrogen being utilized by microorganisms, which is consistent with the results of previous studies³². A large amount of organic matter input can increase C/N of soil significantly, promote the assimilation of inorganic nitrogen by microorganisms, and cause an increase in MBN³³. An additional pathway by which fish protein fertilizer promotes microbial and enzyme activity may be that the import of amino acids promotes interactions between roots and microbes. It has been reported that amino acid water-soluble fertilizer can enrich the beneficial bacteria in the rhizosphere by changing the composition of the root secretion⁸.

Effect of fertilization on the accumulation of the nutrient elements. The content of nutrient elements in leaves can reflect the absorption of nutrient elements by plants³⁴. In our study, the addition of fish protein fertilizer increased the content of N and P in the leaves, which is consistent with previous studies³⁰. However, the effectiveness of AN in soil did not increase significantly, which may be that fish protein fertilizer improved the foraging ability of roots to N rather than directly enhancing the effectiveness of soil N. The application of fish protein fertilizer increased the effective phosphorus in the soil, promoting the accumulation of phosphorus elements in the leaves, resulting in a decrease in N/P (from 14.32 to 11.72). This indicates that fish protein fertilizer is effective in promoting bamboo growth and bamboo shoot production, but also consumes a large amount of N and causes nitrogen limitation of bamboo growth³⁵. Therefore, after the harvest of bamboo shoot, they should be supplemented with abundant nitrogen fertilizer to maintain the nutrient balance in the soil and bamboo.

This study investigated the effects of the fertilization method of using the amino acid fertilizer to replace a part of the chemical fertilizer on the Lei bamboo growth and the soil properties. This study found that after replacing 45 kg of compound fertilizer with 10 kg or 20 kg of amino acid fertilizer (1) bamboo shoot yield increased by 23.24% or 26.19%, respectively; (2) growth of leaves and roots were enhanced, thick root proportion increased, and proportion of root in the topsoil layer decreased; (3) Soil pH, contents of AP, SOC, MBC and MBN, soil enzyme activity increased; (4) the content of N and P in leaf increased, while the N/P and K/P decreased. In addition to verifying that amino acid fertilizer can promote microbial growth and increase soil enzyme activity in Lei bamboo forest, we also found that amino acid fertilizer can improve the effectiveness of soil phosphorus by promoting the activation of phosphorus and improve the nutrient absorption capacity of bamboo by increasing the foraging scale of roots. Overall, amino acid fertilizer can promote microbial growth and improve the soil enzyme activity through supplying carbon sources and nitrogen sources, thus promoting the activation of phosphorus and increasing the effectiveness of soil phosphorus, and then improving the foraging scale of root systems, and ultimately enhancing the absorption of nutrients and increasing bamboo shoot yield. These findings can further clarify the mechanism by which amino acid fertilizer promotes the shoot yield and nutrient uptake of bamboo.

Field site. The experimental bamboo forest is located in Longsheng Village, Deqing County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which is a typical subtropical monsoon climate with an annual average temperature of 15.6℃, annual rainfall of 1379 mm, frost-free period of 220–236 d and altitude of 54 m. Before the experiment, the Lei bamboo forest experienced two years of intensive management with covering heating technology. Compound fertilizer was applied three times a year, and the total fertilizer amount was 2250 kg/ha. The density of bamboo is 15000 plants/ha, and the average breast diameter (DBH) of bamboo is 4.40 cm. The ratio of one-age bamboo and two-age bamboo is 1:1. The soil is red loam, with a soil layer thickness greater than 50 cm. The basic physical and chemical properties of soil are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

Physical and chemical properties of soil in the test site
Indicators	Organic carbon (g/kg)	Total nitrogen (g/kg)	Total potassium (g/kg)	Total phosphorus(g/kg)
Contents	36.48 ± 2.88	2.18 ± 0.09	10.65 ± 0.37	2.09 ± 0.09
Indicators	Alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen(mg/kg)	Available potassium(mg/kg)	Available phosphorus(mg/kg)	pH
Contents	175.2 ± 6.6	366.0 ± 13.59	489.8 ± 29.12	4.39 ± 0.29

Experimental design. In mid-March 2022, the bamboo density, DBH, physical and chemical properties of soil were investigated. The bamboo forests with the same cultivation history, slope, density, DBH and soil nutrient element content were selected for fertilization test. 12 plots (20 m×20 m) were set and divided into three experimental zones as three replicate tests. Each experimental zone contained four plots to implement four different fertilization treatments. The time and amount of fertilization for each treatment is shown in Table 2. Fish protein fertilizer (pH = 7, manufacturer Zhejiang Dongjie Biological Technology Co., LTD., the component content is shown in Table 3) was diluted 500 times and evenly sprayed into the soil of bamboo forest, then sprinkled the compound fertilizer evenly (N:P₂O₅:K₂O = 17:7:17, the total nutrient content ≥ 45%)3 ~ 5 days after spraying fish protein fertilizer. After fertilization, the soil was reclaimed by 15–20 cm. In early November, all the experimental zones were covered with 30 cm thick rice chaff. 52.5 t/ha unfermented chicken manure was spread on the soil surface of the bamboo forest before covering the rice chaff.

Table 2

Amount of fertilizer applied for the different treatments
Fertilization time	Fertilization type	Fertilization amount (kg/ha)
Fertilization time	Fertilization type	T1	T2	T3	T4
April 2021	Compound fertilizer	643	450	450	450
April 2021	Fish protein fertilizer	-	-	30	60
July 2021	Compound fertilizer	643	450	450	450
July 2021	Fish protein fertilizer	-	-	75	150
October 2021	Compound fertilizer	964	675	675	675
October 2021	Fish protein fertilizer	-	-	45	90
Total	Compound fertilizer	2250	1575	1575	1575
Total	Fish protein fertilizer	-	-	150	300

Table 3

Composition of fermented fish protein fertilizer
Indicators	Nitrogen (g·kg^− 1)	Phosphorus (g·kg^− 1)	Potassium (g·kg^− 1)	Water content (%)
Contents	58.49 ± 1.07	3.67 ± 0.18	38.6 ± 0.06	72.53
Indicators	Organic matter (g·kg^− 1)	Fat(%)	Humic acids (g·kg^− 1)	Amino acid (g·kg^− 1)
Contents	156.69 ± 9.93	2.63 ± 0.21	2.62 ± 0.03	144.62 ± 1.27

Shoot yield and bamboo growth. From December of the fertilization year, when the bamboo shoot began to emerge, the bamboo shoot were excavated and counted until the end of April of the next year. In April 2023, the DBH and height of two-year-old bamboo (emerge in early 2022) in each plot were measured. Three standard bamboo (DBH and height were close to the mean values of each plot) were selected in each plot to determine the fresh weight of bamboo canes and leaves. The leaves of three standard bamboo were mixed evenly, and then 100 g from the leaf pool were taken to measure nutrient element contents. Leaf samples were ground with a high-throughput tissue grinder (Retsch GmbH, MM400, Germany) after drying for 72 h at 65 ℃. The contents of nitrogen (Leaf N), phosphorus (Leaf P) and potassium (Leaf K) in the leaves were measured by the H₂O₂-H₂SO₄ method, Vanadium molybdenum yellow colorimetry and Flame photometer method, respectively.

Soil columns of 0-15cm and 15-30cm in the bamboo forest were obtained with a 10-diameter root drill, and the roots in the soil column were separated. Five points (five-point sampling method) were taken per plot. The roots of each soil layer were washed with clean water and scanned by a double-sided scanner (EPSON Perfection V700/V750 3.83) to obtain root images. Root morphology (root length (RL), root surface area (RSA), root average diameter (RD) were obtained by analysing the root images with a WinRhizo software (Regent Instruments Inc., Quebec, WinRhizo Pro, Canada). Root parameter values for each plot are the average of root from the 5 points.

Soil properties, soil enzyme activity and soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen tests. The soil from five points were evenly mixed, and then the total nitrogen (TN, Micro-Kjeldahl method), total phosphorus (TP, HClO₄-H₂SO₄ digestion and the molybdenum antimony anticolorimetric method), total potassium (TK, flame photometry method), organic carbon (SOC), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN, alkaline solution diffusion method), available phosphorus (AP, hydrochloric acid–ammonium fluoride method), available potassium (AK, extracted with an acetic acid–ammonium solution and quantified using a flame photometer) contents and pH (Potentimetric method) of the soil sample were measured. SOC was measured using a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer (Multi N/C 3100; Analytik, Jena, Germany).

The microbial biomass carbon(MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen(MBN) in soil were analyzed using chloroform fumigation extraction method, and the values were calculated using a conversion factor of 0.45³⁶. The soil samples after and without fumigation treatment were leached with 0.5 mol∙L^− 1 K₂SO₄ solution, and the extracts were directly measured using a TOC analyzer. Urease activity was measured using sodium phenol-sodium hypochlorite colorimetry, sucrase activity using 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid colorimetry, and acid phosphatase activity using phenyl disodium phosphate.

Statistical analysis. Difference significance and correlation between parameters were analyzed using SPSS software (version 20.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The significance of the difference in the data between different treatments was tested using factorial analysis of variance (ANOVAs). The correlations between bamboo growth and soil properties were analysed using Pearson’s correlation analysis. The normality of residuals was assessed via Shaprio-Wilk test before statistical tests.

Ethics approval.

The collection of bamboo shoot, leaves, canes and roots was permitted by local famers orally. The study complied with local (Zhejiang Province), national (China) and international guidelines and legislation. All the methods in this manuscript were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

Competing interests

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Author Contribution

Z. Yang contributed to the study conception and design. Investigation and formal analysis were performed by J. Zhao, Z. Yang, H. Ni, and B. Wang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by J. Zhao and Z. Yang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by the Special Project of Zhejiang Provincial Scientific Research Institutes (2021F1065-10).

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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No competing interests reported.

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Effects of fish protein fertilizer on soil properties, bamboo growth and bamboo shoot yield of Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys violascensʻPrevernalisʼ) forest

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